What can be contested?

MegRoll1993 · 2025-06-26T04:19:18+00:00

My brother owned his home for years before he met/married is ex wife. She was granted like 30 or 40% of whatever he got for selling it, because she paid toward the mortgage and upkeep. It might depend on the state as well? (he lived in IN)

Pleasant-Mechanic-49 · 2025-06-23T12:38:54+00:00

You bought it prior to dating, let alone the marriage. This makes it classic non-marital property. It belongs to you ONLY

But she could try to contest it:

Reimbursement for Marital Contributions: marital $$$ were used to increase the value of it: eg: $24,000 in mortgage payments were made during the marriage& made from an account where you deposited your paycheck (which is marital income)
Transmutation This is a more difficult argument for her to win, but it's possible. Transmutation happens when a non-marital asset is treated in a way that shows an intent to make it a marital asset her: " by using marital funds to pay for everything and by us both living in it and treating it as 'our home,' he gifted it to the marriage." Read more about it

The "Separate Accounts" Stuff: The money you earned and deposited into your account during the marriage is still considered marital income. If you used it to pay the mortgage, that's a marital contribution to your non-marital asset.

The other areas of dispute could be :

1. Anything acquired or debt during marriage is marital property: :Retirement Account, Bank Accounts, car, debts

2. Spousal Maintenance (Alimony): bc it was short, very unlikely unless there is a huge gap income between both of you.

The Kids Unless you legally adopted them, you have NO parental rights and NO financial obligations (like child support).

During the separation phase ,DONT LEAVE YOUR OWN HOUSE!! just bc she asked you to do so . It is a TRAP ! Explained in details here

Lesson learned: dont be a victim of the 🐦Cuckoo bird by by raising another man's children. Imagine u meet them when they were a baby, & loved hem now u have no right to see them if decided so. +Divorce women (& men) has higher chance to divorce agai: 1st: 50%, 2nd around 65%, 3rd one : >70%)

upvotersfortruth · 2025-06-23T09:21:02+00:00

Everything can be contested. Any allegations can be made. The process is often the punishment. From her perspective, you're taking away her and her kids meal ticket (to whatever extent you support them), so fighting a fight she can't win if it buys time and if there's even a slight chance you'll cave in, is worth it. This is often the calculation, not just in divorce but in a lot of things. Good luck!

CA_Poppy_25 · 2025-06-23T06:36:36+00:00

I think she can contest this. Most people would say that if you bought the house before the marriage and she did not contribute towards the mortgage, then it's separate property, but from what I've read and from my own experience, I'm just not sure.

Your house was purchased before the marriage, so it's yours BUT I'm sure you used income you earned during your marriage to pay the mortgage. Income after marriage is community property, so the house is a mixed asset. Even if your bank accounts are separate, you comingled your income with the house, so a portion of the house belongs to the spouse. The percent of the home's value before marriage is separate property (all yours) and the rest is community property which is half hers. I hope I wrote that correctly.

One of my assets fit this scenario, so 1/3 of it will get split 50/50.

streetsmartwallaby · 2025-06-23T06:35:08+00:00

If you purchased and completely paid off the house before you got married then I don't believe she would owe you anything as she has not contributed any money to the house.

Theoretically she would be entitled to 1/2 the increase of any assets - retirement funds, investment funds, etc. But she's also responsible for half the debts at there are only.

Title	What can be contested?
Author	Apax912
Upvotes	7
Comments	6
Date	June 23, 2025 3:10 AM UTC (1 year ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Divorce_Men
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Divorce_Men/comments/1li653q/what_can_be_contested/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Divorce_Men/what-can-be-contested.1555334 https://theredarchive.com/post/1555334

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