My husband and I remarried after five years of divorce. In October 2019, during the time we were divorced, I purchased a house in Louisiana. In March 2020, my ex-husband had a custom home built in Georgia for $445,000; It’s now worth $700,000.
In December 2020 we remarried. I was thinking of selling my house in Louisiana and moving to her house in Georgia. We had planned to invest the $200,000 from the sale of my house into major additions and remodels to his house. I’ve already added an $8,000 California closet in the master bedroom of his house. I have one adult son and my husband has two adult children.
How do I protect my investment in said home if it expires or we get divorced again? I also want to be fair to our children if something happens after we die. He suggested leaving a will so that the children can divide the property three ways.
What are my best options? Here are four I’m considering: 1) putting my name on the deed, which he is willing to do; 2) obtaining the transfer upon death deed; 3) leave a will (which can be changed – right?); and 4) avoid succession altogether.
Should I Seek Advice from a Georgia Financial Advisor or Divorce Lawyer? A thousand thanks. Good day!
Second time
“Proceed with caution before selling it and merging your assets with your husband’s, regardless of how you proceed.”
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Not to be missed: My in-laws gave us $300,000 and are taking the deed to our house. Now they insist that we give our granddaughter $125,000.
Dear second round,
History has a horrible habit of repeating itself.
The safest and most transparent way to own a property together is for both of you to sign up on the deed to the house, as well as the mortgage, and write a postnuptial agreement that sets out what will happen to your assets if you divorce again. If you decide to do this, you should agree on the type of co-ownership agreement you will enter into. Georgia has three main types of home ownership: sole ownership, joint tenants, and tenancy in common.
With joint tenancy with right of survivorship, you would each own a 100% share of this property, and if one of you died, the other would take full ownership. With tenancy in common, there is no rule of survivorship and you can own a certain percentage of the property, i.e. if you are investing $200,000 in a property worth $700,000, you might decide to take a 28.6% ownership interest in this house . If I got divorced, I don’t see how that would do either of you any good.
Georgia is an equitable distribution, rather than community property, state, and Louisiana is one of nine community property states in the United States. Before marriage is still generally treated as separate property in both places. In Georgia, for example, the assets you acquired during your marriage will be treated equally, if not always equally. But you’ve already been through a divorce once, so you’re up to speed on this.
In Louisiana, assets acquired during a marriage are divided equally, unless you have a prenuptial agreement that specifies otherwise or you are subject to a court order that will otherwise distribute marital assets. Regardless of whether you live in Louisiana or Georgia, if you invest $200,000 in your husband’s house, you will have commingled that asset—that is, you will have transformed it from separate property into marital property. Your question is As should you mix your assets, no Self you should do it.
Divorce versus death without a will
Let’s look at the options as you see them: 1) Putting your name on the deed (and loan) would be a good start, if he’s willing to give you 50% of this property. 2) The deed of transfer due to death is revocable and can be modified or revoked during the person’s lifetime. 3) The will, as you suggest, is also subject to change. And 4) you would avoid having this property go through probate if you pursued the first option and put your name on the deed.
I wonder if your reference to a “divorce lawyer” was a Freudian slip. What if I get divorced? Would you be happy to have to divide this property? Your home is your sanctuary and a source of financial stability. Proceed with caution before selling it and merging your assets with your husband’s, regardless of how you proceed. And yes, always make financial decisions with the advice of a counselor and family law attorney.
Another possible scenario: your husband dies intestate, that is, without a will. “Suppose the property does not explicitly state that it is owned as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. If so, they are presumed to be held in common as tenants and, under Georgia probate law, may need to go through the probate process to be properly passed to heirs or beneficiaries,” according to the Georgia Probate Law Group.
Don’t make legal or financial decisions in a vacuum. Ask yourself why you got divorced the first time. Yes, people have remarried the same person and things worked out (see Judy Sheindlin, aka Judge Judy, and Jerry Sheindlin), while others found they had the same – or different – problems the second time around (see Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burtone). Maybe your husband has changed, or maybe you have changed. I hope this time goes well for both of us.
Please take into account what I said about the story.
You can email The Moneyist with any financial and ethical questions at qfottrell@marketwatch.com and follow Quentin Fottrell on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
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