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2010 year. My ex husband got a mortgage on a house. Down payment was paid by his father.

2014 year. I met my ex-husband for the first time. We got married the same year (there was a prenup).

2010 to 2017. All these years my ex-husband was paying off the mortgage. I didn’t pay.

2017 year. We decided to give this house as a gift to ex-husband’s father. Ex-husband’s father is the only owner since then.

2020 year. We divorce.

Can I claim any rights to the house since it was my primary residence?

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  • Was ownership actually transferred or was it “here dad, it’s yours” but the deed is in husbands name?Who’s name is on the deed? And who has been paying mortgage since. 2017?
    – Damila
    Mar 25, 2021 at 3:17

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No. You gave up any rights to the property when it was gifted. It really is as simple as that, a gift is a transfer of property, once the gift is made, you no longer have interest in it.

Your lack of rights to the property would probably not change with the gift though, depending on the pre-nup as it was an asset owned before marriage. If it is protected by the prenup you would have no interest. Further supporting that is the fact that you didn't contribute to the mortgage.

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  • But it was my primary residence. Once a property is your primary residence it’s yours, and doesn’t matter you didn’t buy or contribute towards it. We are finalizing our divorce since the end of 2020. Maybe it’s not too late for me to get some piece of that.
    – user37365
    Mar 25, 2021 at 2:15
  • Also prenups dont matter. Courts throw prenups all the time in favor of the “less fortunate” spouse usually a wife (I’m an ex-wife :)) I signed it because i knew courts dont take prenups seriously anyway
    – user37365
    Mar 25, 2021 at 2:17
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    "Once a property is your primary residence it’s yours" Not when you give it away as a gift, then it's somebody else's, even if you stayed there. For example I can't go to your house, change my address so it's my "primary residence" and claim ownership rights. You can have a lot of places as your primary residence that you don't own (every renter has this case).
    – Ron Beyer
    Mar 25, 2021 at 2:21
  • I agree with the answer, but one line at the end might be incorrect. “You didn’t contribute to the mortgage.” Depending on the state, when they were married it was marital funds hubby was using. Anyway, that is moot in this case, assuming they actually transferred ownership to the dad.
    – Damila
    Mar 25, 2021 at 2:54
  • @Damila What I meant by that was that because there is a prenup, and she didn't contribute to the mortgage during the marriage, that it helps solidify the case that she has no rights to it even if the gifting never happened. You are right, it's marital funds, but it helps prove that she had no interest in the property before or took any during the marriage, understanding that it was part of a prenup.
    – Ron Beyer
    Mar 25, 2021 at 2:59

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