My husband and I physically separated 3 years ago and he has been living with his mother. He signed dower rights away to the home we had bee...

Question

My husband and I physically separated 3 years ago and he has been living with his mother. He signed dower rights away to the home we had been living in for four years and I refinanced the home the deed and loan are in my name. Now he Is wanting to proceed legally with a divorce which is fine with me but he is telling me that he is entitled to 1/2 the equity in the house? and the house is 1/2 his. Wanting to know if this is true?

Answer

In Ohio, this depends upon a few factors. The normal rule is that when the divorce is finalized, the court will take an inventory of all marital debt and all marital assets and split those assets and liabilities equitably between the parties.

However, if during the marriage, one party made a gift to the other party of something, then that gift is separate rather than marital property. By signing away his dower interest in the party, you could argue that this was a gift to you from him and that the house is no longer a marital asset.

Even if the Court decided that he is entitled to some interest in the home, you could argue that this interest should be limited. You would argue that the law requires an equitable, not an equal, division of the marital assets. You would then argue that since he walked away from the home, signing away his rights to it, and since you have been using your money to pay the refinanced mortgage all this time with no help from him, that it would be equitable for you to get a refund of half of all of those mortgage payments as a credit against his interest.