I Live In New York, I Am On The Deed To A House, My Ex Husband Is On The Mortgage. Approx. A Month And A Half There Was A Fire.

Q: I live in New York, The house In which my four children (ages 3,4,5, and 11) live, as well as myself is owned by myself and my ex husband. We live in the house, he does not. I am on the deed of the house. He is on the deed and mortgage.. Approx. a month and a half ago, there was house fire. Because my ex is on the mortgage alone, he is shown on the insurance policy by himself bc we have lender placed insurance (Assurant). Now he hasn’t lived in the house with us in over 2 years, yet when the fire occurred he saw dollar signs and now he has made us wait and wait (his own kids) while the house is supposedly going to be getting fixed. I don’t even know what is going on, all I know is I went through all my savings to pay for hotels for myself and kids. Now we are split up and staying with relatives. I want to know what are my rights in regards to getting my house fixed if I am on the deed to the house. The house is not badly damaged, the inside is not damaged, mostly outside of house on one side. The point is because I am on deed only, I am at a loss of what to do as far as getting my home fixed.

A: His responsibility to make repairs would only be driven by the specific language in your divorce settlement agreement. This would otherwise be a landlord-tenant issue. For more info, schedule a consult with a Westchester Divorce attorney.