Can My Ex-Wife Change The Terms Of The Divorce Decree After It Has Been Finalized?
Today’s question comes to me from Anthony, and he wants to know can his wife go after the gains from the home he sold after their divorce decree was finalized?
So Anthony’s situation is this. He has divorced his wife about seven months ago. They had a final divorce decree, where they agreed to each keep their own assets and their own debts. Anthony had purchased a home prior to the marriage, and that home was given to him as his sole and separate property after the divorce. Seven months ago, the divorce was final.
Recently, Anthony sold the home. His wife is now claiming that she should be entitled to half of the gains from the sale of the property. She is telling him that, by law, she is entitled to half of that because Nevada is a community property state, and therefore, half of the equity in the home should be equally hers. I have explained to Anthony that the wife is correct, or the ex-wife is correct, in stating that, because Nevada is community property, any debts, any assets that we accumulate during the marriage become part of the community estate and, therefore, is subject to being equally or equitably divided by the courts upon a divorce.
However, in this particular situation, the couple had agreed in their divorce decree that everything would be separate. Anthony was entitled to keep the home as a whole… As his sole and separate property, and she was awarded other assets that they had. She can now not come back seven months later and state that, because of community property laws in Nevada, she is now entitled to have the equity in that home when she gave up that right in the divorce decree.
The only option that she has is to either file a motion for reconsideration with the court or a motion to set aside the divorce decree, but she’s going to have good, solid reasons to do either one of those.
So to recap it, Anthony, once a divorce decree has been finalized, signed by the judge, and filed with the court, it is a final order that must be followed by both parties. You cannot go backward and say, “Oh, I changed my mind,” or, “I am entitled to this,” or, “I didn’t mean to do that.” It is final, and you must follow that order. Therefore, she is not entitled to half of the equity in the home that you just sold. I hope this has answered this question. If you have further questions and want to discuss this further, please go to vegasdivorcemeeting.com. I’ll be more than happy to sit down with you to discuss this particular situation.
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