Orange County Information Center - General Questions

Lets see if I can word this without confusing the issue. Husband and Wife own a house. Husband moves out. They go through the divorce process. She is currently living in the home. In the divorce agreement, he agrees to refinance the loan in his name only and she agrees to be out by the first of June. The loan is going through and escrow will close in about a week (lets say May 7th.) She now informs him that she will not be out by the date in the divorce agreement because her home won't be ready. He will just have to wait. Well, in the mean time, escrow is closing and the home is his and he has made arrangements with his current residence to be out. What are his legal rights? I hope I made some sort of sense.

That's a tricky situation, without an easy answer.

The husband can file an unlawful detainer action against the wife and seek a court order requiring her to vacate the premises. The problem will be that this process takes months to complete and the husband will be without a place to live in the meantime. The husband may be better off seeking a temporary place to live (if he cannot extend the stay in his current residence), and seeking repayment from her for any expenses he incurs because he is not able to move into the home on June 1. It may be difficult to recover these expenses from her unless he can offset them against something he is already paying her, such as spousal support. The husband may also be able to file a case against her for breaching the divorce decree, depending on how it is written, but that will not get him into the house by June 1. In either case, I would recommend the husband document the problem by sending the wife a letter notifying her of her legal obligation to vacate the premises by June 1st and that she will be breaching the divorce decree if she does not move out by that date.

Warmest Regards,

Amanda Wheeland
Orange County Real Estate Advisor

<< Back to Real Estate Questions about General Questions in Orange County