Ex Spouse refuses to sign Quit Clam-Texas

My fiance has been divorced several years. He was awarded their house in the divorce. The ex refuses to sign the Quit Claim & her attorney has told her not to sign it. Does my fiance still have the right to ownership of the property as though she had signed the Quit because it was awarded in the divorce decree?
We are doing some significant property improvements mostly with my separate money & before we do them I want to know I am protected.

Not 100%--she needs to sign -- you should take her back to the family law court and ask that she be held in contempt of court for failing to sign the QC deed.

It depends on how the order is worded. If it grants exclusive possession of the house to him, she does not need to sign a Quit Claim deed.

If the house was awarded to him solely, then the judge needs to order a Quit Claim Deed be drawn up and signed by the other party.

It would be prudent to not use your own money to make improvements until this matter is settled. Never put money into real property unless you own it.

I'm curious as to what reason her attorney gave to advising her not to sign the Quit Claim.

He was awarded the house exclusively as his sole possesion. Her attorney wanted a different Quit signed that was about 15 pages long reversing everything the judge did in the award. It would award her all insurance proceeds in a claim, her right to continue to do as she wished with the property, etc. It was ridiculous. He refused to sign it as the equity awarded was also stated in the decree. This was based on the judge's also awarding her a very small amount of equity in the home. That equity was paid. She could never have afforded or maintained the property as it is a large home with acreage. While she occupied it before the divorce she failed to make any payments etc on anything or maintain it in any way. Of course this same attorney tried to go after all his retirement from a company he worked for before he ever married her too.

If she received money for her share of equity in the property, she should be required to sign the Quit Claim deed. She basically sold her interest in the property.

As it stands, the house has been awarded to him exclusively.

It should have been taken into consideration that she failed to make mortgage payments and let the house fall into a state of disrepair.

If she continues to refuse to sign the Quit Claim, he needs to hire an attorney who specializes in Real Estate and ask the judge to sign it over by proxy. As it stands, he should be the owner free of all encumbrances, but it sounds like he's not yet.

Urge him to consult with an attorney to get this matter resolved.