My name is Rebecca Richardson, the mortgage mentor. And I wanted to talk to you for a couple of minutes about qualifying for a home when you're going through separation and divorce.
How child support and alimony factors into any kind of future mortgage qualification, if there is going to be any child support or alimony involved in any kind of settlement that's given. And if a new home is needed, or you're planning on refinancing your current home, when can that income be included? Depending on the loan type, if there's going to be child support and alimony, and it's part of a written agreement, it can be counted as soon as three months. Most typically, you need it for at least six months receipt. Now, if there isn't an agreement, the money received can be counted as long as it has been received regularly for at least 12 months. A big component of child support and alimony is that the income received does have to continue a minimum of three years past closing. And that can be a big consideration if you have a child in high school, and how the agreement is written for how long that income is going to continue. If part of the income structure is variable that it might be a percentage of bonus or something like that. Typically, that is not able to be counted unless there is already an established history of an amount being received in a lump sum like that.
Every situation is a little bit different. And so I always tell clients that I'm here as a resource, even before something gets finalized and in agreement to make sure that the goals that you have, whether it's to buy a new home, or maybe to refinance your current one, that the way that the agreement is structured allows you to use that income as soon as possible. A timeline is understood by all parties when things can occur based off of what timeline has been set out in the agreement.
If you're going through separation and divorce, know that I'm here as a resource for you. I have lots of experience in this area. And I would love to answer any questions that you have about how to best set up your strategies to achieve the goals that you have.