Massachusetts couple’s $1.5M home dispute resurfaced after their divorce

A Massachusetts divorce, a renovated home and a disputed loan of more than $1.5 million came to a head on 11 August 2026, when the First Circuit Court of Appeals revived a fight between a divorced wife and her former in-laws. Her husband’s parents funded the renovation of a property gifted by her parents, then recorded the money as a loan.

A family court awarded her the home after the couple’s divorce, yet a trust holding the parents’ claim sought a sheriff’s sale of her ex-husband’s share, and the appeals court ordered fresh findings on whether the debt was genuine.How a gifted property in Tyringham became a renovation project financed by the husband’s parentsAccording to the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in the Cosel and Wendt case, also published in full by FindLaw, Molly Cosel and William Wendt, known as Will, married in 2014. Around the birth of their second child, Molly’s parents deeded a parcel in Tyringham, in western Massachusetts, to the couple as tenants by the entirety, a form of joint ownership for married partners.