[quote=frenchlambda]
My understanding was that whatever down-payment was used to purchase the property could only be recuperated from the equity that’s in it.
Am I wrong?
If so, am I legally entitled to get $85k (or even a percentage of it) from my ex?[/quote]

You _had_ the right to be reimbursed $85k out of the community estate during division of assets when you were divorcing. (Which, in practice, would have meant that you’d get $43k more and she’d get $43k less.) For example, if there was a joint savings account with more than $85k in it, you could have taken $85k to yourself and evenly divided the rest.

Whatever rights you have now, two months after the divorce has been finalized, and after countless signed papers, it’s really hard for me to say.

Edit: actually I’m not sure. CFC §2640 mentions “net value of the property”. What is net value of the property? Is it the fair market value or is it the amount of equity?