Can a spouse recover a down payment for the purchase of the marital home, if the marriage is a “quickie.”?
In many cases, one spouse usually the husband comes into the marriage with the money. Quite frequently, one spouse pays for the deposit to purchase the marital home. In some cases, the marriage is a disaster, and the marriage only lasts a year or two. A frequent issue is whether the richer spouse can recover his deposit monies that were used to purchase the home. Unfortunately, even though only one spouse paid for most of the deposit, the courts will view this as an implied gift to the other spouse. Therefore, the court will view the entire down-deposit as a marital asset. The court will consider that the down-payment was a gift to the other spouse, and it was made in contemplation of marriage. In summary, once a spouse makes a down-payment on a marital home, then this money is immediately converted into a marital assets, and it must be equally split in a divorce.
