Once the divorce is final, can creditors place liens or judgments against real estate owned jointly by the divorced couple due to the debts of one of the former spouses?
In short, the answer is yes. Tenancy by the entirety is a very protective status of title available only to married people. When a married couple owns property as tenants by the entirety, the law considers the real estate to be owned by the marital union, not the individuals. This means that the separate creditors of each of the married individuals are not able to reach through that special title and gain access to the real estate in order to satisfy a debt. However, the instant the divorce is final, tenancy by the entirety is dissolved. In that instant, when the judgment of divorce is entered, former spouses co-own that property as tenants in common – a status of title that provides much less protection against creditors. For more information, check out this blog.