Marital Deeds

When dividing Jointly owned Land and/or a House during a divorce, the division of the Marital Home is often central to the division of the value of marital property.   But your options can be very limited if the Marital Home has a Mortgage, in which case your options essentially are:

You Purchase the Interest of your Spouse

You Sell your Interest to your Spouse

You Both Sell the Property to a 3rd Person

You Continue Joint Ownership without Special Creditor Protection

None of these options require a Marital Deed.   Instead the necessary Deeds will probably be drafted by a 'closing' attorney handling the sale or refinance of the property.

A Special Interest Marital Deed, or Quit Claim Deed, conveys the Marital Home to one spouse from the other spouse without a tax being collected.   However once this transfer occurs, the House/Land loses the special protections against creditors North Carolina allows if you are married.   And, if there is an existing Mortgage, such a Deed transfer should never be done without very specific terms concerning the continuing 'use and control' of the real property in a Separation Agreement.   It is important to remember that when there is an existing Mortgage on the Land/House, the Mortgage will continue against all individuals who signed the original - no matter what your Agreement says.   And if you convey your interest in the property to your spouse, subject to an existing Mortgage, you may end up being responsible for a Mortgage on Real Property you no longer own or control.

So the first question to ask when considering a Marital Deed is this: is the Real Property encumbered by a Mortgage or some other Debt, such as a civil judgment? If so, Stop.   A Marital Quit Claim Deed is not what you first need.   Instead you need to make certain you have a very specific Separation Agreement in place to deal with the unique issues of continuing Joint Ownership post divorce.   Mortgages can last a long time and you absolutely do not want to let go of your ownership interest in the parcel of Real Property unless and until you have certain rights to re-enter the premises if your Spouse: (a) dies after having re-married and added the new spouse to the Deed, (b) declares Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and/or (c) just stops making the Mortgage payment for any reason thus affecting your credit.

But if you want to convey Real Property to your Spouse which IS NOT encumbered by a Mortgage or other Debt and understand how the conveyance will be valued as part of the Total Marital Estate, then 'Click' on 'Continue" below.

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