Separation & Divorce

These things are hard to go through for every one. Some of us can relate. Good thing we have experience and the right people to go to.

LEGALLY SEPARATED

• Copy of Decree of Legal Separation or order filed with the court. Please note: escrow cannot prepare a quit claim deed when one party is attempting to buy property without the other party. It must be prepared by the attorney for one of them and we will record at closing.

DIVORCE

• The Separation Agreement / Contract will have to be reviewed to confirm what it provides regarding title to property. The Separation Agreement / Contract is typically not filed with the court. In these cases where it’s not filed we may need to ask the seller to furnish us with a copy of their Separation Agreement / Contract.
• If a deed is necessary to clear title, one of the former spouses must have their own attorney prepare it. Escrow cannot prepare the deed.
• If the decree requires one former spouse to execute a deed to the other to clear title, we cannot close the transaction if the former spouse refuses to cooperate.
• Escrow cannot get involved and the parties may need to retain counsel to resolve disputes.
• If the sellers are in the process of getting divorced, underwriting will have to approve the transaction.

Fun Fact:

The most expensive divorce in U.S. history was the end of the marriage of Bill and Melinda Gates, which involved an estimated $76 billion in property. Jeff Bezos and Mackenzie Scott had the second most expensive settlement at a more modest $38.3 billion.