Post separation mortage payment reimbursement

Hello. Thank you for answering these questions for us all. My question involves post separation mortgage payments. If one of the parties (who is on the deed and mortgage) leaves the marital property and the person who remains in the house makes all the mortgage payments, pays all the property taxes, etc; what is the person who makes these mortgage payments financially entitled to when the house finally sells? For example, if their mortgage was $100,000 when the person left and the mortgage was $80,000 when the house sold, would that person who paid the mortgage down to $80,000 get that $20,000 back?

Thank you,

Our statutes list numerous factors for a judge to consider during the process of equitable distribution in deciding whether the property should be split equally, or whether an unequal division would be just. One such factor is:

“Acts of either party to maintain, preserve, develop, or expand; or to waste, neglect, devalue or convert the marital property or divisible property, or both, during the period after separation of the parties and before the time of distribution.” N.C. Gen. Stat § 50-20 (c)(11a).

Your post-separation mortgage payments are considered a distributional factor, allowing the judge to make an unequal division when dividing your property. It may not transfer to an exact dollar for dollar increase (i.e., a $20,000 increase in your example), but it will be a factor that the judge will consider.