My wife is verbally abusive - tonight, for instance, she berated me for having chronic kidney disease and being on disability due to that and having complications from Addison’s and Type 1 Diabetes. It’s ironic since she was fine when I was able to pay for everything but now that I can’t, she’s acting too tortured to clean her cat’s litter box. Divorce is imminent, but she seems to be set on trying to force me out of the house so that it can be sold because she fancies herself a princess that should get what she wants even though I have a fatal disease and she wants to move out of state to take a job. The house is in both our names. Can she legally just sell the place out from under me?
No, if the house is deeded in both of your names, you both must enter into any purchase agreement with a buyer.
The house can be sold as part of the divorce settlement, or one of you can keep it and buy out the other.
Once you have separated (one of you will have to move out), you are eligible to file a claim for equitable distribution, which asks the court to divide the marital property. An equal division of the marital property is presumed to be equitable.
For more information on how equitable distribution works, check out our article Property Division: What You Need to Know.
Anna Ayscue
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm Cary • Chapel Hill • Durham • Raleigh • Wake Forest
Rosen Online | Unlimited confidential access to a North Carolina attorney for $199/mo - click here
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