If I co-sign on a real estate loan for someone, can my wife take it as part of our divorce settlement?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If I co-sign on a real estate loan for someone, can my wife take it as part of our divorce settlement?
My wife and I have been separated for 5 years and she keeps moving before I can send divorce papers. I want to co-sign on a home loan and would like to know if she could try to take this property when we get divorced? Should I go ahead and co-sign?
Asked on April 25, 2011 under Family Law, Massachusetts
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Co-signing a loan does not in and of itself give someone an ownership interest in property; it just obligates someone to pay the loan if the signor does not or defaults. So if all you do is incur a debt or obligation, that would not give your wife any rights to the property. However, if you also do gain any interest in the property (e.g. you're on the title)--or in some situations, if the circumstances make clear that you are the real owner of the property and just structed this transaction the way you did to try and defraud you wife--then she may be able to reach the property in a divorce. For example: if despite being the "cosignor," you regularly pay some or all of the loan and use the property, it may be possible to establish that you are the real owner of it.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.