question about quit claim deed

[bat-mite]

state of florida
my spouse and i have a home with a 50,000 mortgage.  


1.  if i quit claim deed the home to my spouse would i still be responsible for  the mortgage?

[Peanutsdad]

In my divorce, my ex signed a quit claim on the deed. However,, it did NOT absolve her of the mortgage. In order to do that, the home must be refinanced.

[bat-mite]

hahaha thats what i mean. quit claim deed excuse me i'm half asleep

did you have to refinance to buy your spouse out?


what if the spouse leaves the home and your the onlyone making the mortgage payments can they be removed from the payments due to abandonment after a period of time?

[socrateaser]

>1.  if i quick deed the home to my spouse would i still be
>responsible for  the mortgage?

A "quitclaim" deed releases no more and no less than the ownership interest in real property held by the grantor at the time that the quitclaim is signed (and recorded). A mortgage is an obligation to pay a debt/loan that is secured by an interest in real property. In your case, if both you and your spouse obligated yourselves to pay for a loan, and the lender has a secured interest in your home to protect that loan in the event that you do not pay, the quitclaim will release your ownership interest, but you will remain stuck with the obligation to repay.



Even if the court orders one of you to pay the debt, this does not relieve the other person of the duty to pay, because the lender is not a party to your divorce and the lender's interest in the property remains intact.

In short, executing a quitclaim while still being obligated to pay on a secured debt is the worst thing that you can do, because you are left with all of the obligation and none of the benefits.

The only certain way to separate yourself from a jointly held home is to sell it for fair market value and then divide the profits, if any.

Now, if you believe that you will be forced to pay child or spousal support as part of your divorce, then the better alternative is to offer to pay part or all of the mortgage on the home, because you will be getting something back later, based on your ownership interest. But, if you need the cash equity in the home now, then you may not have a choice, and if not, then my advice is to sell the house and take that issue off the table, so it doesn't annoy you later.

[socrateaser]

>did you have to refinance to buy your spouse out?

Yes, unless you have an assumable loan and you can qualify separately. And, your spouse must execute a quitclaim in your favor, because the lender will not permit a mortgage where only one person is obligated, but more than one has an ownership interest.
>
>
>what if the spouse leaves the home and your the onlyone making
>the mortgage payments can they be removed from the payments
>due to abandonment after a period of time?

It's possible based on the theory of "adverse possession," but, and without further explanation, this usually requires from 10 to 20 years, and I doubt that you want to wait that long.

You need to either buy your spouse out, or get a court order granting you sole title to the property. This would usually be in exchange for you buying your spouse out.

You're not really giving me any case-specific facts, so I can't comment further.