Rented Apartments And Divorce

Some people’s main source of stress relates to the marital home after divorce.  It makes their blood boil that their ex got to keep the house they renovated with the work of their own hands.  Someone out there is stressing about whether she will qualify for a refinance, even if her mother agrees to co-sign for it.  These people are reminded of their own problems when they read about celebrities locked in legal battles over their multimillion-dollar mansions, but not you.  For you, all of this drama about celebrities trying to evict their exes from their palatial homes based on a technicality in the prenup is escapist fun.  You have never been able to afford to buy a house, and you probably never will.  It’s nice to read celebrity gossip and see jerks get their comeuppance.  In your world, the only bigger jerk than your ex is your landlord, and while the divorce court does a fine job of showing your ex who is boss, it does not have the same power over your landlord.  If you are suffering from an inauspicious conjunction of divorce drama and landlord drama, contact a Birmingham divorce lawyer.

Divorce Drama for the Rest of Us

The main objective of the divorce court is to divide the couple’s marital property.  If the couple owns a house, the court might order one spouse to keep the house and pay the other an equalizing payment and then to refinance the mortgage in his or her name alone, or it might order them to sell the house and divide the proceeds.  In the ugliest divorce cases, the court must even rule on one spouse staying in the house during the pendency of the divorce and the other paying temporary alimony.  Couples usually work out issues related to the marital home during divorce mediation, but when they cannot agree, the court has the authority to decide these matters.

If you and your spouse rent your apartment, the lease with both of your names on it is a legally binding contract between you and your landlord; the court cannot interfere in it to remove one spouse’s name from the lease just because the couple is getting a divorce.  If you cannot afford the rent on a single income, the court might order your ex to pay alimony.  You might even decide to break the lease early and move in with a family member; if you and your ex cannot agree about how much, if anything, your ex should pay toward the early termination of the lease or your moving costs, the court can intervene in this dispute, but not any issues between you and your landlord.  The good news is that it is a self-limiting problem; the worst-case scenario is that you must pay for the whole apartment by yourself for a few months until the lease ends.

Contact Peeples Law About Divorcing a Fellow Tenant

A Birmingham family law attorney can help you and your ex-spouse resolve disputes related to the apartment you rented together during your marriage.  Contact Peeples Law today to schedule a consultation.

Source:

realpropertymgt.com/expert-tips/when-tenants-divorce#:~:text=If%20both%20parties%20are%20on,at%20the%20property%20or%20not.