do I stay in the house owned by my husband?
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do I stay in the house owned by my husband?
do I have any legal rights to the
house? even though my name isn’t on the
deed.
Asked on September 12, 2017 under Family Law, Indiana
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
If the house was bought during marriage, you presumably do have some rights to it: property bought by two spouses during their marriage is presumptively marital property, and family law assumes that both spouses in some way contributed to it (whether with their income, their savings, or simply by taking care of the household and children freeing up the other spouse to work longer and harder and earn more). So generally when a home is bought during marriage, the spouses will share in the equity if they divorce in one way or another (e.g. whether it is sold immediately or down the road; or whether one spouse gets the house as part of his/her share of the couple's assets). (This said, the court can make adjustments to reflect who paid or contributed more.)
But if your spouse owned it prior to marriage, inherited it from someone, was gifted it by someone (e.g. parents), or bought it 100% with an inheritance, you have no rights to it: in this case, you did not in any way contribute to acquirin the home.
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