Marital property in new York state

[So sad nyc]

I've been married one year as of May and we've decided to go our separate ways. I had owned my home for close to three years before he moved in and we married. I put his name on the deed and we refinanced together.  As of our marriage I had stopped working for health reasons, at his request,  and we combined our financial accounts.  So basically we used savings to pay for a 65k renovation of our kitchen ( though he had more cash than I did) instead of having a wedding and he paid 50k towards the balance of the mortgage and then obviously paid for all household expenses for that year while I dealt with my health issues.  he is threatening to take the house from me saying I owe him in the divorce since he put in more during the year.  My point is in NYS it's equitable distribution so I feel I should be able to claim the full equity till the point of marriage, then we would have to split the value of the money paid towards it after the fact even though I wasn't working. So I maintain I keep the 250k equity I had and he can only claim half the mortgage payments and half the kitchen expense which only added 15k to the price of the house based on various real estate agents opinions on the houses worth. It was quoted as worth 840k but in this market they would list it at 800k.  We have similar balances in our 401ks so we are agreeing to leave those alone. But he wants my house and since I don't work and he has control of the money I don't know what to do. I can't afford an attorney, and he wants us to file uncontested so it goes through faster but I won't agree till I know if I'm getting a good deal.  He wants to buy me out based on a 750k selling price which is some figure he figured it would eventually sell for, subtracting that from the current mortgage leaving 276k cash which he said he gets half as if it were a regular sale.  He has spoken with a lawyer I have not. If we do this uncontested we save a lot of court costs but I
feel I'm the one losing out here. Based on this i walk awaynwith practically nothing and it was mine! Please advise.

[DrDoo]

Best advice I can give you is find a lawyer.
I know you say you cannot afford one but it sounds to me like you can't afford not to have one.

Second best advice I can give you is never ever take legal advice from the person you are divorcing. 
I have a feeling that if you hire an atty you are going to come out heaps ahead on this probably get the house some support money and a lot more.
If you take your husbands advice you are going to get screwed and not in a good way.

[m_t]

I agree with Doo.

Also, you need to look at the real estate market now - your equity is likely nowhere near the 250k it was when you bought. You should also likely speak with either a RE attorney or a RE appraiser.

[So sad nyc]

Thanks m_t and Doc.  I guess I'm going to have to try to find one that won't charge the end. He has full control of the money. Thank you for your fast response.

[InDenial]

Thanks m_t and Doc.  I guess I'm going to have to try to find one that won't charge the end. He has full control of the money. Thank you for your fast response.

All the more reason to see a lawyer ASAP.  Your lawyer may be able to file a motion with the court that will give you access to the money.