Ohio Divorce Question

22 years ago

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this question, but maybe someone here could direct me to the right place. My MIL has been married to her husband for about 18 months. He has become extremely nasty, hateful, and somewhat verbally abusive. She is ready to get a divorce. She is very concerned that she may have to give him half of her home. The home was hers before the marriage (my dear FIL is deceased), but someone told her that since they have been married for more than a year that he is entitled to part of her house. She has maintained the mortgage payments from her own account and he has been responsible for some of the utilities and his own personal bills. She does not want to remain in this marriage, but she doesn't want to lose the home that she has had for 34 years. Any ideas of where I can look to find information to pass along to her?

Thanks in advance,

Pam

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Comments (8)

theroselvr
22 years ago
Go to Google & do a search for Ohio divorce law. I just did this for a friend in another state & found some really good information.
CandyWA
22 years ago
I don't know about Ohio, but in CA the house would remain hers. If she and her husband of 18 months have not built on to it or borrowed against it... it should still be hers. I think it's only the equity gained from the day they were married till the day they divorced that could be split.

There's a great website called Lawguru.com where you can ask questions of attorney's in your area.

Isn't it sad that people even have to worry about such things.

Good luck :)
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Pashan
22 years ago
As a Realtor in Ohio, I can tell you that the moment they got married the house became 1/2 his. Yes, he would be entitled to 1/2 of her house... I know this isn't the news you want. I suggest your MIL get a good lawyer. I can recommend a couple. (I can also tell you a couple NOT to go to...) :-)

Where are you in Ohio, Franklin County? I can tell you a couple of judges to avoid too...

~P
Jonesy
21 years ago
In Kansas and most states, the day you marry, the home is half his, BUT that doesn't mean he gets it in a divorce. The judge may give the house to the orig owner. It happens when it is the first marriage and both names are on it so why not with this.
Pashan
21 years ago
I received an e-mail today from a lawyer in Columbus. She reprimanded me off list for practicing law without a license. (If anyone here actually mistook me for a lawyer, I apologize).

She informed me that I gave incorrect information in my post. For that I am deeply sorry, I should have checked my facts before posting. In an attempt to rectify my error I am going to post here a quote from the e-mail I received. This should de-stress the original poster who, as was pointed out to me, is probably suffering deeply as a direct result of my error.

Under Ohio law a house owned prior to a marriage is the separate property of the spouse-owner, and does NOT automatically become half-owned by the other spouse upon marriage. Whether the other spouse acquires any interest in it at all must be determined on a case-by-case basis, including such matters as who paid the mortgage and from what funds during the course of the marriage.

~P :-)
jamie_mt
21 years ago
LOL - I sincerely doubt that anyone here took your statements as a lawyer, rather than as a realtor, which is what you said you were. I also doubt the OP (who posted in *June*) was still around to even read your post in August...she probably had already found her info and done whatever it is she was doing by then. Besides, just by posting for her friend, she was theoretically "practicing law without a license" herself if she was giving her friend legal advice (which most people do - give friends advice based on personal experience, and don't even think twice about it).

IMO, said lawyer should have posted online and in public if she felt that strongly about it...too bad she couldn't have just answered the OP's question in the first place, as a lawyer, giving a credible answer and info in the first place.

The OP posted her question in a public forum...she should have known that the answers would be largely from non-professionals in the field.

The point to all my ramblings? I'd just ignore emails like that - if the OP didn't want opinions of the general public, she wouldn't have asked the question on a public forum. :-)
Pashan
21 years ago
Yea, Jamie, my comments back to the lawyer (we had a 2-3 email exchange) were very much along the lines of your post. I did, however, give wrong advice here so I thought it should be corrected.

I wasn't impressed with the lawyer too much, she was awfully rude to me. You'd think they'd have taught her some manners at Harvard... apparently not. Glad I went to a nice southern school where I learned a bit about how to treat others, even when they are wrong.

Thanks for your support - I appreciate it! :-)

~P
strazydaze
20 years ago
I think that Pashan seems to know what's going on. Still, go to the library and check out a book on divorce law. In NC, it doesn't matter how long the spouse lived there, if they payed all of the mortgage, did home improvements, or what. The house remains the property of the person who owned it to begin with. It it considered 'personal' property rather than 'common' property unless the other person's name has been added.