Question:
I am the Listing Agent.
The Sellers, a young husband & wife are both on title, and they have been separated for only a few months without filing for any legal proceedings. They sold their investment property a few months ago. I didn’t know that they were separated at the time.
The wife is the one with all the money. Now, the husband just told her that he wants half of the proceeds of this sale which was an investment property sold for $1.8M. Resolving their issues could take years.
Now the wife wants out of the deal until the legal matters between she and her husband are resolved, which could take years.
Answer:
They are both on title. That’s the default position. But it’s half the “profits” during the marriage, not half the proceeds. If she had “all the money” in the first place, then, she should have had a pre- nuptial agreement.
Naturally, this doesn’t permit the wife to terminate the sale with the Buyer.
The Buyer should be ready to initiate legal proceedings.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker