Joint Home with ex wife who is filing Chap 7

[Bostoninfl]

Hi,
We were divorced in 2015. Our house was worth less than the mortgage. It was split 50/50 in the divorce decree. Both of our names are on the title and loan. We rented it for a year, and then I moved back in with the intention of selling it. I pay the mortgage alone, and all the upkeep. I have made several repairs like replacing the AC units last year for $9,000 The house may now finally have $30k in equity (the mortgage is 500k and may sell $550k) My ex never lived here after our divorce and purchased her own home which she will keep in the Chap 7

She is filing Chap 7. I understand the trustee can force the sale to get her half of the proceeds. My question is will they evict me? Will I get any say in the offer? Does it matter for anything that I have for all of the debt, so the shared debt is now more on her side? Should I have an attorney?
Thanks

[shipo]

I would strongly suggest you get an attorney. On the surface, you can make the case your investments in the house should erode her percentage of ownership, however, unless you get an attorney, my thinking is you have about a zero percent chance of making such arguments stick.

[despritfreya]

I agree you should discuss with an attorney.

If the Trustee comes knocking, in all likelihood, he/she will entertain an offer from you to purchase the bankruptcy estate's interest in the home. You would negotiate an amount. The amount, IMO, would be along the lines of the 50% equity after the cost of sale however, your negotiating position comes from the argument that you increased the value by making improvements and, therefore, that should also be taken into consideration.

This should be very workable if the need arises.

Des.