Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, husband has a strengthened claim because he has paid the water bill. If he can show that he also contributed time and/or money to the maintenance of the house, that also strengthens his claim.

The house became the property of both of you the day you got married. Sorry, OP. Working men with SAHW's have been dealing with this for centuries.

Centuries? It has only been recently that women have been able to afford their own homes as previously women were not allowed to work jobs that paid good money. And in some cases were not allowed to work at all if pregnant

You know all those SAHM taking car of the chickens, cows and fields.

You are uninformed- Airlines in the 1960s required their Stewardesses to be single and definitely not pregnant!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyer here, not in your jurisdiction. Although most jurisdictions have similar marital property laws.

You can't kick him out unless there is physical abuse and you can get a retraining order, so that doesn't seem to apply. At a minimum, you will owe him half of the appreciation of the house, if not half the value of the house. You may also owe him child support if you make more and potentially alimony. Add in the cost of two homes, etc. Now you see why so many people stay married.

Not questioning your wisdom for divorce, but you are going to be in for a surprise if you think this isn't going to cost you a hefty sum to him. Call a local lawyer you trust, they can explain the basics in an hour or two.

1/2 appreciation during marriage, minus 1/2 the taxes and interest.

Reqding is fundamental.

She said the house is underwater.

She said she lives in Maryland. I can't imagine anywhere in Maryland that would be underwater especially if she bought it more than 10 years ago (sounds like it was a 10+ year marriage?).

Ha! 2005-2007 were the worst years to buy! I bought in 2008 and JUST broke even this year.

Op if you have kids and will be sharing custody then all assets will be split anyway and factored into child support from whoever earns more. If you really love the house and want to keep it for yourself you will have to negotiate his equity (which exists regardless of who signed the checks, as many pp have cited) in exchange for something he wants more (like his retirement fund, or reduced child support if he makes more money than you do.). Also realize that you both will now be maintaining two households with the money you previously used to use to maintain one. This is a big hit. Often it means the house must be sold, any profit would be split, and more modest homes/apts found. Your life and your kids lives will be very different. Make sure you've exhausted all counseling options and are sure you want this before you go down this road!

Also, please ignore the pp recommending you attempt to abuse a protection order. in addition to being horrendous, you can get in serious legal trouble for this, judges today see through it pretty quickly and do not look on it kindly. you could wind up with a parental alienation ruling affecting your custody rights in addition to defamation liability and police report falsification charges.