My spouse wants to quitclaim me off the Deed of our home in Denver, Colorado. What should I do? Most couples think once a spouse has been quitclaimed off a property deed of trust in Colorado Divorce, they are no longer responsible for the mortgage payments. By giving a quitclaim deed to your spouse, you have given up title “only” in the property.
I would strongly suggest you either refinance your Colorado real estate immediately or sell the house and forgo the quitclaim deed. The quit-claim deed is often used as a simple way to give up all interest rights in real estate. By giving up title to the property in a Colorado Divorce, you are still responsible for any loan that is in your name.
Typically, the spouse who keeps the real estate must refinance or sell the property to remove any mortgages. If you are quitclaimed off of the property, you still are financially obligated to make the mortgage payments on the house during the sale or refinance period. If mortgage payments are not made or made late, this could damage your credit score and affect your ability to purchase another house in the future. From our experience with separation of real estate in a divorce, we have seen one spouse intentionally make late mortgage payments to spite the other spouse. In addition, we have seen ex-spouses forgo the general maintenance on the house; whereby reducing the saleability of the house.
There is no reason to quitclaim either spouse from the real estate in a Colorado Divorce until the day of decree is final. Again, you need to protect your interest and make sure that any agreements regarding the mortgage should be carefully specified in the decree.
I would strongly recommend you seek legal advice prior to making any decisions regarding the dissolution of any interest in your Real Estate portfolio.
Damon Chavez, Realtor
10135 West San Juan Way, #100
Littleton, CO 80127
Phone: (303) 649-6767