My 83 year old father is going through a divorce .Married in 1993 and moved in to her home.In 2000 home was sold and a new home was purchased.Now after residing in home for almost 17 years we are told my father had signed away any rights to the property. I truly believe that my father’s very limited understanding of the English language and being deceived by his wife and her children was the only reason he signed that document. In October of 2017 his wife up and moved in with her son.Divorce papers were served January 11,2018.March 27,2018 there was a motion hearing for residence of home.My 83 year old father was given 35 days to vacate the residence in what I believe was unfair.There was never any signs or reports of any kind of spousal abuse.My questions are;does my father have rights to home which he clearly contributed to for 17 years and what chance would we have in trying to appeal the judges decision to vacate the home?
Residence dispute
I’m so sorry to hear about your father’s situation. In general, right of occupancy is different than the right to the equity or right of reimbursement related to the property. I don’t have enough of the fact pattern to know whether or not he did indeed “clearly” contribute to the property for 17 years, especially given his age and what I presume to be limited retirement/Social Security income, but if he did contribute financially towards the acquisition of the property, he would be entitled to reimbursement.
Likewise, I don’t have enough information to give any kind of opinion as to the chance of appealing the judge’s decision to vacate the home, but a Motion for Reconsideration pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Section 1008 would likely be the correct motion to file. There are VERY strict and tight deadlines associated with this motion, so you will want to obtain legal counsel immediately.