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If I buy a house before I get married, what happens when I get divorced?

Depends on the state and how much is contributed toward it during the marriage. Prepare to be screwed if you don't have a solid prenup.
 
i believe there is this thing called communal resources that will come into play. if u have paid that house off with no debt and never use any communal resources to maintain that house, she has no right to entitle anything from that house.
 
You'll end up having to put her name on it. She'll want to and if you don't she'll think you don't trust her and give you some BS. But either way I think she'd still get half anyway. Same with any money in your bank account and stuff.

If ever I get married I will probably stash away some money in a spot that wont be looked at during the divorce process if it was to happen. Enough for a house down payment, if the worse case scenario happens. Better safe than sorry.
 
nickbits said:
Depends on the state and how much is contributed toward it during the marriage. Prepare to be screwed if you don't have a solid prenup.
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jagec said:
Depends on the state, depends on the length of the marriage, depends on your relative incomes, etc, etc.
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California

She will probably not pay for any part of the mortgage since she makes close to minimum wage. She will pay for some utilities, food, etc...

Who knows if/when divorce happens.

No pre nups since she is asian and it will offend her.
 
should be in the prenup that house is yours, since you put downpayment and all the house payments...

edit: Prenup will not offend her.. tell her that the prenup is a 'love agreement' and its how much you love her and to prevent the courts from getting in between your love..

prenups are mandatory....
 
Would it be your house or the banks? If most of the equity in it gets paid off during the marriage, then she'd most likely get 1/2. She'd be crazy to let it all be yours per a prenup if it's barely paid off at the time of marriage.
 
I can't endorse marriage for men. I don't endorse it for anyone, but it's particularly destructive for men. Flip a coin to see what your future is. Heads, you'll be more or less happy, and get to keep your house. Tails, you'll be miserable, and have to sell the house to pay off the lawyers, and your wife's half of the marriage. That's hardcore gambling, and some pretty nasty odds. Go play blackjack instead. The odds aren't as good, but the risk isn't as destructive.
 
Tommy2000GT said:
Is the women entitled to some of it? The house will be under my name and I don't plan to add her name to the deed.
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Great job - already thinking about how to work together as a team. I've seen two posts of your and both make you sound incredibly selfish - what a lucky girl whoever gets you.
 
Garet Jax said:
Great job - already thinking about how to work together as a team. I've seen two posts of your and both make you sound incredibly selfish - what a lucky girl whoever gets you.
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Why should her name go on it? :S He paid for it before the marriage.
 
lxskllr said:
I can't endorse marriage for men. I don't endorse it for anyone, but it's particularly destructive for men. Flip a coin to see what your future is. Heads, you'll be more or less happy, and get to keep your house. Tails, you'll be miserable, and have to sell the house to pay off the lawyers, and your wife's half of the marriage. That's hardcore gambling, and some pretty nasty odds. Go play blackjack instead. The odds aren't as good, but the risk isn't as destructive.
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50% is pretty good odds for gambling, and unlike in gambling the odds can be affected by the person placing the bet.
 
Tommy2000GT said:
California

She will probably not pay for any part of the mortgage since she makes close to minimum wage. She will pay for some utilities, food, etc...

Who knows if/when divorce happens.

No pre nups since she is asian and it will offend her.
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In CA your earnings while married are yours and hers. So she will be contributing to paying the mortgage. She will get a chunk of the house if you get divorced.

Edit: When married you are treated as a team, absent a prenup or the like. There is no you earning money or her earning money. The team earns money. Both members of the team are equally entitled to the money. So stop thinking in terms of what money you (singular) make. Start thinking in terms of what your team makes.

If the team breaks up, everything earned by the team is split up.

Kids complicate things more.
 
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Don't marry if you consider divorce an option.
Marriage is all about commitment. If you can't commit, then it's simple - don't marry. Wait until you feel you can.
 
Does she clean and maintain the house? Then she contributes to the value of the house even without paying.

Do you have a joint bank account for which the mortgage payment comes out? Then she contributes to value of the house?

Has she mowed the lawn, painted, decorated, for the house? Then she contributed to the value of the house.

For the most part, when married, assets become mixed, which include the house.

If you want something different, either use a prenup (which does not always work) or live together and utilize the cohabitation law which is pretty much, what you put into the arrangement is what you get out. The cohabitation law requires you keep your separate names, separate bank accounts, separate property, etc. But like divorce, depending on the judge you get, it really all is a flip of the coin. Judges don’t always follow the law and to appeal costs so much that often it’s better to just accept a bad ruling.
 
SandEagle said:
i'm pretty sure she gets to keep the kitchen.
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:thumbsup:

When you get married without a prenup, all assets are shared.
That's all savings accounts, retirements accounts, real estate, personal property, etc.

When you get divorced, you have to split the equity/debt of the house.
 
lxskllr said:
I can't endorse marriage for men. I don't endorse it for anyone, but it's particularly destructive for men. Flip a coin to see what your future is. Heads, you'll be more or less happy, and get to keep your house. Tails, you'll be miserable, and have to sell the house to pay off the lawyers, and your wife's half of the marriage. That's hardcore gambling, and some pretty nasty odds. Go play blackjack instead. The odds aren't as good, but the risk isn't as destructive.
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Marriage is worth the risk.
 
mOeeOm said:
Fine, if he's paying all the mortgage and she adds no money to the house. Why should she have her name on it?
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*sigh*

Any *equity* in the house prior to marriage is yours. Since I'm going to assume that you're not going to pay cash for a house, equity gained after you're married is split 50/50. It doesn't matter who is making the mortgage payments after you're married. In most states (I think this includes Cali), *anything* gained after marriage is community property.

To put it another way, let's say you both had equal incomes, and a mortgage payment equal to one of our incomes. You keep separate checking accounts. How about SHE makes all the mortgage payments, and you pay for the food, electricity, cable, etc., etc. - do you think that by splitting up your payments that way that she would be entitled to the house instead of you? A marriage is a partnership. How/who you decide will make each payment is merely accounting. In the divorce (your attitude makes it sound like your marriage is probably doomed) she gets half.


You want a story that's really fucked up: my brother was engaged. He bought a house and busted his ass in it day after day; it consumed a lot of his spare time. Refinished all the oak floors, gutted and re-drywalled a few of the rooms, insulated the attic, painted, etc. - before his fiance would even move in with him. As the wedding date approached, she told him, "I don't feel like we're a partnership; I don't feel like I live in my own home, because your name is the only name on the deed." He added her to the deed. 9 days later, "get out. It's my house now." You can probably guess what his feelings were at that point, but he refused to leave. After he left for work, she would leave the water running all day. She wrote on walls with permanent marker. She screwed with a lot of his stuff. He was genuinely scared of her. Then, he arrived home from work as she was about to leave in her vehicle. He noticed a lot of his tools in the back - he called the police and claimed she was trying to steal his tools. Female officer arrived. First, she claimed that she was borrowing them for her father for a project; then she had a private conversation with the officer. No charges against her; the officer bought her story hook, line, and sinker. The next afternoon, shortly after he got home, the sheriff pulled up. "Get your stuff, you have 5 minutes to get out." Order of protection was served. She had told the officer that he had been beating her. He got the house back. It took almost a year in court, and cost him close to $10k.
 
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