January 16, 2015
A reader asks, “Husband and wife are seperated for the moment. No plans to divorce for a while. Husband wants to purchase a home in Georgia. The wife will also purchase at some time in the future. Do they have to be divorced before the husband can purchase a home?”
There are too many missing details to give even a general answer on this one–do the married couple currently own a home and have a mortgage? If so, who is taking ownership of the property and financial responsibility for the loan?
Those are important factors in any home loan application–the amount of current debt, the amount of current income, and how much of that income is taken up by the current debt.
A borrower with too much debt and not enough income may not be able to be approved for an FHA home loan without certain compensating factors which may or may not include a large down payment.
But the most important factor in this reader question is whether or not the couple reside in a community property state and what the law might have to say about the situation as it stands when the FHA loan application is filled out and turned in.
Community property laws govern the shared debts of the legally married couple and the responsibility for those debts. Such laws would also govern how the debt incurred during the marriage are divided up in case of divorce.
For community property issues, it’s best to consult a legal expert in such matters who can give practical legal advice. We can’t dispense legal advice here as that’s outside the scope of our work writing about FHA loans, refinance loans, FHA news and answering reader questions about the same. Community property laws may vary from state to state; there’s no single answer to these questions because of the variation of state laws.
Do you have questions about FHA home loans? Ask us in the comments section. All comments are held for moderation.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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