tenancy by entirety

[whizzif]

My girlfriend and I got screwed by a builder -- he put my house on the wrong lot and didnt pay subs -- and he ran off with money on my gf's house. The bank botched up the paperwork and they hired an inspector and he didn't catch it. My gf's house is on her lot but her inspector reported the house as 70% complete when it was 30% --these are both outofstate. The builder is filing probably and we can't cover the loans because of his screwups, etc. so...we'll likely have to file.

We are looking to get a house here locally if we can figure out fiinancing.

We have been talking about getting married for 2 years now and want to -- but with all of this it's been a distractionn.

My question is this -- if we get married and buy a condo and title it with tenants by the entirety - does that have to be our primary residence. In all of the reading I've done -- it states that it's exempt from collections due to individual debts but nothing states the asset has to be a primary residence.
Anyone know?

[Flamingo]

Gleaned the below out of some law books and other information here in the office to give you the information you need - you can also easily do an online search for the same information.

"Tenancy by the entirety is a statutory form of ownership created by a conveyance to a husband and wife. Like joint tenancy, the parties must acquire their interest at the same time and through one title. They must have equal interest in the property, as well as equal rights of possession. One further criterion which applies only to tenants by the entirety is that the parties must be husband and wife.

The primary difference between tenancy by the entirety and joint tenancy is that joint tenants may deal with the property as they wish. If one joint tenant decides to convey her interest in the property, that interest is conveyed, and the joint tenancy is destroyed. In tenancy by the entirety, each tenant effectively owns the entire estate. Therefore, neither can deal with the property independently of the other. The main advantage of this difference is that judgment creditors of one party cannot enforce their liens against the property. If the debtor spouse dies first, the lien can never be enforced against the property. Of course, if the non-debtor spouse dies first, the lien could be enforced."