Mortgage Gift Turned Promissory Note??

[blurcardi]

I think bullet points would better represent my question, so here they are::

1 - My wife's father (my father-in-law of course), wanted to help us get into a larger and nicer home for our family and his grand children.
2 - Father-in-law gifts us a $140K +- to purchase home and we mortgage the difference, $180K +-.
3 - My wife and I have run into some marriage difficulties.
4 - Father in law wants me (us) to sign a promissory note for the gift over 2 years after the fact.
5 - There was never any discussion about repayment as he helps us all the time but not with this much money.
6 - There was never, and still isn't, any reasonable expectation of ever being able to repay the gift that he is trying to turn into a loan.
7 - I know he will never make her repay her half.

I am pretty sure legally I don't need to repay the "gift". If I sign the note I am agreeing to repay it even though it was never originally a loan, by signing I am making it one, correct. If I don't sign the note it is only going to add more stress on the marriage and harder to repair. The father-in-law has already threatened to file a lien, which I am not sure he can do.

Can the note be written with terms such as these:
1 - Repayment only required if there is a divorce between borrowers.
2 - Repayment to be funded by the sale of the borrowers residence.
3 - All repayment monies are to go into a trust for the grand children?

Please help and thanks for your time!!

 

[army judge]

I think bullet points would better represent my question, so here they are::

1 - My wife's father (my father-in-law of course), wanted to help us get into a larger and nicer home for our family and his grand children.
2 - Father-in-law gifts us a $140K +- to purchase home and we mortgage the difference, $180K +-.
3 - My wife and I have run into some marriage difficulties.
4 - Father in law wants me (us) to sign a promissory note for the gift over 2 years after the fact.
5 - There was never any discussion about repayment as he helps us all the time but not with this much money.
6 - There was never, and still isn't, any reasonable expectation of ever being able to repay the gift that he is trying to turn into a loan.
7 - I know he will never make her repay her half.

I am pretty sure legally I don't need to repay the "gift". If I sign the note I am agreeing to repay it even though it was never originally a loan, by signing I am making it one, correct. If I don't sign the note it is only going to add more stress on the marriage and harder to repair. The father-in-law has already threatened to file a lien, which I am not sure he can do.

Can the note be written with terms such as these:
1 - Repayment only required if there is a divorce between borrowers.
2 - Repayment to be funded by the sale of the borrowers residence.
3 - All repayment monies are to go into a trust for the grand children?

Please help and thanks for your time!!

Legally, you don't have to sign a promissory note for money that was once given to you as a gift.

If you do sign such a note, you'll likely give your FIL the ability to levy against your home, if you default on the repayment terms.

You need not respond to your FIL's entreaties and pleas.

You are better off leaving the matter alone.

Some people might suggest you could simply start sending your FIL monthly payments.
If you choose to take that action, you could simply term the monthly payments, gifts for all of his past kindnesses towards yoru family.
Even that action poses some risks.

There are no sure bets in the law, after the fact.

The sure bet is to do nothing.

I suggest you consult a CPA or a tax attorney, because the "gift" has some IRS and state tax implications, unless you've previously addressed your tax liabilities.

I wish you well.

 

[blurcardi]

I am going to try and do nothing and he is going to be pissed and make my life and my wife's unbearable!

 

[army judge]

I am going to try and do nothing and he is going to be pissed and make my life and my wife's unbearable!

People can only annoy you if you allow them into your world.

You can block his phone calls, rip up his letters unopened, and don't answer his knocks on yoru door.

Ignoring people is very easy, and it passes the annoyance back to them.