Properties and Finances

Getting a divorce is stressful enough without adding financial concerns into the mix. It's always best if a couple determines what will happen to their house instead of dragging the issue to divorce court. Having a home and mortgage to think about makes thinking about divorce a bit more complicated. A quitclaim is a form that you can fill out with your spouse, indicating the request to have one spouse's name removed from the deed of the family home.

The best way to go about this is to have the house refinanced first under the name of the spouse who will be keeping the house. In most scenarios where the mortgage is under the name of one or both of the couple, a quitclaim deed is nothing more than saying that the ownership of the house is going to one person. If the property has not been refinanced, it still means that the payment for the mortgage payment is expected from the person/s who took out the loan.

Let's say for example that Mike and Sarah are getting a divorce. They currently own a home which they bought after they are married. Both their names are on the deed. However, at the time that they applied for the mortgage, it made more sense to have Mike take out the loan, so it's only his name on the mortgage. When Mike and Sarah decided to get a divorce, Mike also decided that he would file a quitclaim deed to remove his name from the deed. However, his name is still in the mortgage so the best thing to do is have Sarah refinance the house under her name. Otherwise, it's still Mike's name (and credit score) on the line should Sarah default on her mortgage payments.

It may come as a surprise to some people (who are already separated) that they will still be required to submit a quitclaim deed even if the property and mortgage is in their name, should they want to sell the property someday. This is because as a spouse, he/she may be entitled to part of the property, even if the property only has one spouse's name on it. If the divorce court gave you the property in the divorce settlement, you'll still need to find out if the county where your deed is recorded still requires a quit claim deed.

Should your spouse refuse to sign a quitclaim even after the property has been given to you, he/she can be held in contempt and may serve jail time as a consequence.