Can you hire an attorney AFTER filing? Darn Ex!

[LifeNLemons]

*sigh* I just found out that there is a lien on my old house, against my ex-husband for back child support owed to ME. I want to surrender the property. And I have no idea how much the market value of the house is. It's for sale for $159K, but I know the realtor said he pumped up the sales price to allow for offers, the lien I knew about, and realtors/escrow fees. Our mortgage is $130K.

***edited to add*** I looked up an estimate in Zillow and its $139K. Can I use that estimate if I print that out to use as my backup?

[lrprn]

***edited to add*** I looked up an estimate in Zillow and its $139K. Can I use that estimate if I print that out to use as my backup?

Don't know what to say about the lien, but I do know that Zillow tends to give high home values. If a high value is what you need for your homestead exemption, great. However, if you need a more realistic value, check for similar homes (size, rooms, condition, etc) for sale in your neighborhood similar to this one, then check online for the sale prices. Print out the flyers.

This provides a realistic average figure for your area if your trustee asks how you arrived at your home's value.

[HHM]

There is no legal reason why you cannot hire an attorney after you have filed, but the honest truth is, most attorney's will not jump into a case that is already filed. But, all you can do is start calling around.

[LifeNLemons]

Don't know what to say about the lien, but I do know that Zillow tends to give high home values. If a high value is what you need for your homestead exemption, great. However, if you need a more realistic value, check for similar homes (size, rooms, condition, etc) for sale in your neighborhood similar to this one, then check online for the sale prices. Print out the flyers.

This provides a realistic average figure for your area if your trustee asks how you arrived at your home's value.

I had a realtor look up homes today and wouldn't you know it, there are no comparable homes in the area that are for sale or have sold in the last YEAR. As a matter of fact, NO home has sold in that area since this time last year. Yeah me! Although, she told me that the zillow estimate is just about right, considering the market and the location. She gave me some additional info so I'm going to go with the Zillow estimate, and will have documentation to back it up.