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If you are trying to refinance your home in your name, what are the best tips?

When refinancing your home, finding the right banker can lead to them working with your divorce lawyer, your judge, and you in working through the financial settlement that would most benefit you. Click to read some important tips!

By Updated: February 16, 2015Categories:

New Jersey Divorce FAQ, NJ Divorce Lending

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SECTIONNote that answers given in this section cannot take the place of a divorce professional. For financial advice about your specific situation, you must consult a qualified divorce lending specialist. See our disclaimer.

"If you are getting divorced and trying to refinance your home in your name alone, what are a few tips to consider?"

First, before anything else, shop for expertise in a divorce lending mortgage banker. Period. If you grasp this concept from the start, you increase your odds of achieving your financing goals.

Your most important goal should be to locate a banker with substantial experience in divorce lending. Do your homework upfront to avoid possible financial disaster when it comes to the disposition of the marital residence and protecting your family’s lifestyle from further disruption. Your divorce lending specialist should know how to guide you, your attorney, and the matrimonial judge in developing both the negotiation and settlement strategy for the non-vacating spouse that will be ultimately financeable, either during the course of the litigation (pendente lite) or post-judgment.

Look to your chosen divorce lending specialist for analysis of the many banking and legal best-practices aspects involved with matrimonial litigation. Seek out reliable, experienced advice pertaining to divorce financing concepts that answers the following questions:

  • Is the existing loan both assumable and desirable to retain, and might the non- vacating spouse qualify for an assumption of that loan?
  • What is the credit capacity of the party wishing to remain in the marital home?
  • Is the nature and actual receipt of Temporary Support (both allocated and unallocated) adequate for loan approval?
  • What are the lending pros and cons of using "Roof Expenses" during pendente lite?
  • What are your minimum child support vs. alimony income ratios necessary to qualify for a mortgage?
  • What is the impact of a strategy, on either litigant’s agenda, involving a one-time buyout of alimony?
  • When might it be advisable to use only a court- or attorney-appointed appraiser vs. a bank appraisal prior to any settlement strategy plan or negotiation?
  • How would the potential distribution of joint assets (including retirement, investment, etc.) affect the mortgage request?
  • Does the refinancing need to be accomplished prior to obtaining the final Judgment of Divorce and Marital Settlement Agreement, and furthermore, does the bank have the capacity to accomplish it?

Len Rossine is a Divorce Lending Specialist and considered an authority on divorce lending in New Jersey. The views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author.

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