Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington

Re: quick claim deed

If you're lucky, whomever prepared your Decree of Dissolution put in a deadline by which time your ex had to accomplish this task. If there is such a date and she missed it, hopefully there is a solution provided for in the Decree about what to do. For example, she might be forced to sell the home to remove your name from the loan.

If you are unlucky, the Decree just says that she is supposed to do this, with no deadline or even language that indicates she must do so in a reasonable period of time. That becomes a stickier situation that you ought to consult an attorney with who will need to see the Decree to better advise you of what your options are.

Going back to the first scenario, if there are remedies provided for in the Decree in the event your ex does not refinance within a certain period of time, and if she's past the deadline, and she refuses to do what the Decree specifies if she does not refi on time, then you need to bring a motion for contempt for failure to abide by the decree, and you can ask for attorney's fees in such a motion.

Last, my best advice is that you hire counsel to handle this, because trust me, unless you are experienced in this stuff, you are going to spend a lot of time away from doing the things you otherwise ought to be doing, and most likely, you'll still make errors that will have you spinning your wheels in place. Hiring counsel on this one will be the best investment you make in a long time.

Re: quick claim deed

The quitclaim deed you are asking about will NOT remove your name from the loan on the house. For a variety of reasons, you may not want to remove your name from ownership of the house while the loan is still in your name.

You should seek legal advice to find out what your options are for your ex-wife's failure to abide by the divorce decree. Self-help in this situation could make a bad situation worse.

If you used an attorney in the divorce, you should talk to him or her about what needs to be done now. If you did not use an attorney, now is the time to get one.