Can I Refinance My Home Under My Ex-Wife's Name If She Is Not on the Title of the House?
- If your ex-wife's name isn't on the title, your mortgage lender probably won't remove you and add her, and you'll be considered responsible for the mortgage. However, you can transfer the deed into her name, according to Women's Divorce. Go to your county's register of deeds with your ex-spouse and transfer the deed into her name. After you do this, she can refinance the mortgage under her own name, which releases you from liability for the mortgage.
- Even if your divorce decree says your ex-spouse gets the house and is responsible for the payments on it, you can't officially be released from liability unless your bank agrees to remove your name from the mortgage or your ex-spouse refinances the mortgage under her own name. Thus, if your divorce decree says that your ex-wife must refinance the house, transfer the deed as quickly as possible and check with your lender to ensure she has refinanced the mortgage. Otherwise, if she defaults on paying the mortgage, it negatively affects your credit.
- In certain cases, your ex-spouse might not want to refinance the home in her name because she has poor or nonexistent credit and may not qualify to refinance using traditional terms. You can't refinance the mortgage for her --- that would keep your name on the deed and mortgage, which means you would continue to be liable. Instead, transfer the deed in accordance with the court order and inform your mortgage company of the transfer. If you want to be helpful to your former spouse, point her toward mortgage programs for people with poor credit so that she can refinance.
- If you and your spouse both have your names on the deed and the mortgage, it's easier to refinance the mortgage only in her name. Inform your bank that you wish to remove your name from the mortgage. The bank can often close the mortgage and reopen it in only your ex-spouse's name at either spouse's request, according to "Credit and Divorce," a document the Federal Trade Commission puts out to help divorcing couples protect their credit during and after the divorce.
