Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board, kinjirurm, and yes some posters here get a little emotional about some things … [adorable grin] … you came here via Google, whereas others who come here are fans of Cecil Adams … please read through some of his archived material when you have time and then you’ll see why some of us here get a little snippy … it’s Cecil Adams who sets such a bad example …
With the update of information … I believe you just need to drive down and have your ex-wife sign the car’s title so that she releases interest … then when you refinance, the new finance company will pay off the old one … the new title for the car will then not have her name on it … the OP is to be commended for maintaining a friend relationship with his ex-wife, as this makes everything easier for both parties …
My advice to the general readership, and I hope the lawyer types here will agree with me, is that the divorce decree isn’t the final step in the process … the parties still need to get all the paperwork straightened out, for example car titles or real estate deeds which have both names on them … and it’s best to deal with these issues right away, when the matters are fresh in everyone’s minds … otherwise twenty years go by and someone like me will have to dig up somebody’s dead body and haul it down to an escrow office just to show the person can’t sign off on the deed …
LSLGuy - Carpenter’s go to the School of Hard Knots … like when the 2x6-has-knots-16"-on-center-and-the-lay-out-guys-are-mad-at-you type of hard knots …
It should (this is typical when one spouse keeps the house, for example).
What is not clear to me is whether the divorce can be legally finalized when these steps have not been completed. IANAL but my guess is that it can be finalized, but the case could be brought back to court to force the noncompliant spouse to comply with such a decree.
Tone can be hard to convey in text-only communication, and this place tends to have an adversarial vibe to begin with (our stated goal is fighting ignorance, so people tend to point out assumptions and incorrect points, even minor ones, with vehemence).
Hope that doesn’t scare you off. Your question is a reasonable one, and I don’t think anyone’s mad at you.
Actually, considering that you came in cold from Google and didn’t know what you might be in for, your reaction to the answers you got was as polite and reasoned as anyone could wish. That sort of response is appreciated. Welcome aboard.
