house is in spouses name only and was purchased with the intent of getting married and living in it together back in 2007. I moved in immediately as I relocated and was joined six months later when married. mortgage payments were made jointly. we refinanced in 2011 and thought we had changed deed but found out later it was not filed. I have beed primary caregiver for the two children since they were born (home Monday -Friday) and have reduced my work to care for kids. spouse now refuses to have the deed changed to reflect my name. do I have any right to the property? I am planning on continuing primary care of children as spouse stated that they are not interested. do I have “mariatal interest” in the property? thanks.
Yes, you should have a marital property interest in the house. Even if the property was never deeded to you, making payments with marital funds over the course of the marriage (amongst other things) would give it some form of marital value. You should also look at the value of the property when purchased, when married and now as well as the balance on the mortgage at those times to determine how much of the equity is marital.