Divorce in Texas: Mortgage Assumption

As many couples get married, buying a home is a common next step, if not already taken prior to their marriage. In the event of a divorce, many are concerned about who will be responsible for the mortgage payment during the divorce and of course after the divorce is finalized.

In this blog, we’ll review what the range of outcomes could be. First things first, what’s mortgage assumption? It simply means that whomever gets awarded the house will assume the mortgage payments. In almost every case, the spouse that receives the house in the divorce will be responsible for the mortgage, but what happens if the other spouse’s name is also on the note? A lot of times the lender will not remove someone from the note and unfortunately the Court cannot order the lender to do anything.

Deed of Trust to Secure Assumption

Typically, a Court orders the spouse responsible for the mortgage to sign a Deed of Trust to Secure Assumption. In this document, the spouse responsible for the mortgage assumes the payment of the mortgage. The spouse who does not get the house becomes the beneficiary, which leads us to asking, what happens if the spouse who gets the house doesn’t make the mortgage payments? If he or she does not pay, the spouse who did not get the house can foreclose on the house to protect his or her credit. In some instances, the Court may require the party who received the house to refinance the house in a certain amount of time, if feasible. Our team has seen a range of outcomes when it comes to property and asset division during a divorce.

If you are concerned about the division of your assets, it’s important for you to hire the best fit divorce attorney, with experience in all sizes of assets.