[its me]

house but the ex refuses to sign off the mortgage? They never married but her name is on the mortgage. She left 8 months ago and has since re-married. She won't sign off unless he meets some demands. If he takes her to court the cost of that will prevent him from paying it off. What should he do? It is an old farm house in the middle of no where. I am not even sure why he wants it!

[srscott212]

Tell him to consult a lawyer. A consult will cost somewhere around $150-$300 but he will know exactly what he can do and that's money well spent. Is she still paying on the mortgage? If not, he may have a case right there and all the lawyer will have to do is write a letter. If she is threatened with legal action (which would end up costing her just as much money as your brother), she might stop being such a pain in the a** and sign off on it.

[smills0205]

He doesn't need her permission to pay off the house. He would need her permission to remove her name from the deed though. That's the thing. He can pay off any time he wants regardless of whose name is on it. He can go to court to have her name removed by force, and it is not so expensive to pay an attorney to take care of this (if he has money to pay off a house, then a few hundred dollars to fix the title will not keep him from doing it- that's kind of ridiculous sounding). If he pays it off with her name still on it, she owns half of it.

[Kiki G]

Either he gives in to her demands or he sells it. When he sells it she could legally ask for some of the profits. If he lives in a community property state her new husband could ask for profits that accrued since his marriage to her. I am a real estate broker and see these issues all the time. If her demands are cheaper then court than just give in to them and get rid of her.

[mars]

I am really curious as to why she is behaving like a 7 year old child. Have issues been really resolved between the ex's? There is an underlying core issue that is not resolved yet.