In my divorce, my ex got the house and is responsible for making all monthly payments and is also responsible for refinancing the home. My ex has not refinanced, the mortgage is still under my name and the monthly payments are not being made. This is hurting my credit score and I don’t know what to do. Is this a matter for divorce court or is this a civil matter?
Answer: this occurs all the time, and must be dealt with in divorce court. Most people believe that if a judge orders something, that it has some affect on the mortgage and property. This is simply not true, a divorce decree cannot force a mortgage company to put one spouse on the mortgage when there were two signers at one time. Sometimes the situation is that one spouse simply is not financially capable of refinancing the house and there’s nothing a divorce judge can do about that. With that being said, your ex is in contempt of the divorce decree or separation agreement and can be held in contempt in divorce court. You should get an experienced divorce attorney to file a motion for contempt with the divorce court that issued your divorce decree. If for some reason the judge will not have the power to scare your ex into refinancing or making them normal monthly payments, the judge can enforce penalties and award you damages because of how this is affecting your credit history and how that will affect your financial future. At the very least the judge could order your ex to catch up on the mortgage and make monthly payments. The fact that your ex agreed in a separation agreement that they would get the house and pay for the mortgage and refinance and has chosen not to, they are in contempt of court and there are legal remedies here to protect you.
Joseph F. Botelho, Esq.
BOTELHO LAW GROUP
Attorneys At Law
901 Eastern Ave.
Unit 2
Fall River, MA 02723
Office: 888-269-0688
Email: jbotelho@botelholawgroup.com
https://www.botelholawgroup.com/
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