Property question

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

My husband and I are divorced, but we never got around to settling our property. The situation is very amicable.

  • We still own the marital home together, which is unoccupied. We are both on the deed and mortgage. He pays the mortgage and utilities.
  • There is also a townhome that he purchased so I could move out when we separated. I still live there but will be moving soon. This mortgage is in his name only and he pays the mortgage while I pay the utilities.
  • He is remarried and I am not.

2 Questions

  1. We are planning for him to refinance the marital home for a lower rate and to get me off the mortgage, and he plans to rent it. What do I need to do to also get my name off the deed? (He is essentially buying me out with other assets, so no worries there)
  2. Since we were still married when the townhome was purchased, am I on the deed?
  3. Is his new wife automatically on the deed for these properties?
2

To remove your name from the deed you can execute a Quitclaim Deed and have it filed at the Register of Deeds. The refinance with the mortgage company is a separate process, or course. If you were married when he purchased the townhome (unless you also executed a free trader agreement), you will need to relinquish any rights you have in it. There are certain automatic rights that occur when married persons purchase real property. To see if you are on the deed you can do a simple title search in the county where the townhome is located. You can also see whether the new wife is on the deed when you do the title search.