home value problem in NY divorce, please help
My brother is getting divorced, and I own a two family house in a New York City suburb with him, the deed is Joint Tenant Right Of Survivorship. His soon-to-be-ex wife is asking for 1/4 share of the home because of NY's equitable distribution law. I didn't want her to have any claim on the house before the purchase, but we received the wrong legal advice from our real estate attorney, he never advised us that she could receive 1/4 of the value in the event of divorce, I thought the JTROS deed protected us from any future claims in her part, because her name was not on it as an owner.
Was I shocked when my brother's family law attorney told us her name didn't need to be on the deed for her to share in the profits.
Anyway, it turns out that the lot right next to our house is being considered as a site for a HUD single family affordable house. The house will sell for 300,000 dollars less than our home is worth, and the price needs to stay that low for forty years. I wanted to know if anyone responds to my post, if they would hypothetically consider buying our house when I disclosed the city's plans for the lot next door, or if they would want to purchase it at a deep discount.
My brother and his STBX are having the house appraised next month, so
I am going to mention the situation to the appraiser.
I have tried researching articles on-line regarding the effect of affordable housing and declining property values, but cannot find any. If anyone can lead me in the right direction of finding web-sites or other resources I can use for research, I would deeply appreciate it.
Thanks so much.