Divorce and your mortgage

A divorce decree divides property between two people and does nothing to the loan, so both names stay on the mortgage until it is refinanced, assumed, or paid off. These pages explain what each of those paths requires and which one is likely to work for you.

The questions people actually ask

• How do I refinance the mortgage after a divorce?

  Refinancing after a divorce means replacing the joint mortgage with a new loan in one spouse's name alone, and it is the step that actually removes the other spouse from the debt. You have to qualify for that new loan on your own income, your own credit, and the equity in the house.

• How do I get my name off the mortgage after a divorce?

  There are only three ways to get your name off a mortgage: the loan is refinanced into the other person’s name alone, the other person formally assumes the loan with the lender’s approval, or the house is sold and the loan is paid off. A divorce decree on its own does none of these things.

• Can I remove my ex from the mortgage without refinancing?

  Sometimes, through a formal assumption with a release of liability, or by selling the house, but there is no way to simply have a name taken off a loan by asking. The lender holds two promises to repay and does not give one up without either a new loan or a formal process it approves.

• Can I refinance on my income alone after a divorce?

  You can, if your own income covers the new payment alongside your other debts and you have enough equity in the house. A lender looks at your income without your ex’s, your debts including any support you pay, your credit, and how much of the home’s value you are borrowing against.

• Can I use alimony or child support to qualify for a mortgage?

  Usually yes, if you can document that you have been receiving it and show it is expected to continue for long enough, but every loan program sets its own requirements for how much history you need and how far into the future the payments must run. Support you pay out is treated as a debt and reduces what you can borrow.

• Can I assume the mortgage after a divorce?

  You may be able to, depending on what kind of loan it is, because government backed loans generally have assumption provisions while conventional loans generally do not. You still have to qualify with the lender on your own, and you need a written release of liability for your ex to actually come off the debt.

• How is a house buyout calculated in a divorce?

  A house buyout starts with the equity, which is what the house is worth minus what is still owed on it, and the person keeping the house pays the other their agreed share of that equity. The share comes from the decree, and the money usually comes from a new loan that also pays off the existing one.

• What happens if my ex stops paying the mortgage after the divorce?

  If your name is still on the loan, the missed payments are reported against you as well, the lender can pursue you for the balance, and the house can eventually be foreclosed regardless of what the decree says. Your remedy is against your ex in family court, and it does not stop any of that from happening in the meantime.

• Can I refinance during a divorce before it is final?

  It is possible but considerably harder, because a lender needs to know the final position on property, income and support before it can underwrite the file, and none of that is settled until the decree is. Most lenders will want the final decree, and where one will proceed without it there are usually conditions attached.

• How long after a divorce can I refinance?

  There is no waiting period tied to the divorce itself, so you can start as soon as the decree is final and you have the documents a lender needs. What actually sets the timing is whether your income, your debts and the terms of the settlement are documented and settled enough for an underwriter to rely on them.

• Does a quitclaim deed take me off the mortgage?

  No. A quitclaim deed transfers your ownership of the property and does nothing at all to the mortgage, so after you sign one you are still fully liable for the loan on a house you no longer own.

Not a mortgage?

The same problem turns up on other joint debts. Removing a cosigner or an ex from a car loan works differently, and it is worth knowing how before you assume it is the same.