Beyond the emotional ties to a particular home, sharing real estate comes with an intricate maze of legal strings that have to be sorted out before the dust can settle. It\u2019s a bit more complicated than, say, splitting up the wedding china.<\/p>\n
However, with over 630,000 divorces recorded annually<\/a>, you\u2019re not the first to face the tricky divorce real estate questions keeping you up at night.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s go through them one by one, and tackle your top concerns with help from professionals in the field who have a combined 50 years of experience.<\/p>\n \n\n\n\n\n Start with a free home value estimate from HomeLight. Input your address and answer a few questions about your home, and we’ll provide a preliminary estimate of home value in under two minutes.<\/p>\n \n First and foremost, you need to know how the divorce home is valued<\/a>, and how your equity<\/a> in the home will be split.<\/p>\n But what this question is actually <\/i>asking is, \u201cAm I in a community property or equitable distribution state?\u201d Your answer could impact how the equity split from your home is calculated.<\/p>\n According to Cornell Law School, the courts will divide your assets under one of two basic schemes: community property<\/a> or equitable distribution<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n If you live in a community property state and your home, classified as community property<\/a>, was acquired during the marriage, the proceeds from the sale are typically split strictly and equally 50-50. If one spouse bought the home before the marriage, however, that is considered separate property and the rules for splitting become a bit more complicated.<\/p>\n Because divorce is governed by state law as opposed to federal law, there are exceptions to these rules. MaritalLaws.com, an online resource for divorce, custody, child support, visitation, property division, and alimony laws, provides the divorce laws of each state with an easy, interactive map<\/a> and all the fine print in one place.<\/p>\n Community property states include:<\/p>\n *Note: Divorcing couples that live in Alaska can opt-in to a community property<\/a> system or default to an equitable distribution system.<\/p>\n If you live in one of the remaining states, the property acquired during the marriage will be divided fairly and equitably based on factors deemed by the courts.<\/p>\n According to LegalZoom, the leading online provider of legal solutions and documents, such factors include<\/a>:<\/p>\n While there are slight differences, at the end of the day the laws of community property and equitable distribution states do remain fairly similar. According to Marco Brown from Brown Family Law: Utah Divorce Attorneys<\/a> who\u2019s helped nearly 4,000 divorcing couples, regardless of which type of state you are in, \u201cThe home being purchased during the marriage and doing a 50\/50 split happens in 95% of cases.\u201d<\/p>\n Ideally, to keep or sell a marital home in a divorce comes down to what you and your spouse can decide together. However, if emotions are high and it\u2019s difficult to have a conversation or come to an agreement, then it may be up to a judge to determine a particular outcome.<\/p>\n Dana Browning<\/a>, a top-selling real estate agent in Nampa, Idaho<\/a>, with a perfect track record of 100% of listings sold and experience working with divorcing couples, reports, \u201cOften, it\u2019s about sitting with both partners and knowing the goals, because they can be different. Currently, I have one client who wants to stay in the property, but she can\u2019t qualify to buy him out<\/a>, but wants to keep the kids in the same school district so we have to get creative around how to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n You may want to sell the home if:<\/p>\n You may want to keep the home if:<\/p>\n Fran Williams<\/a>, a top real estate agent in Lakeland, Florida<\/a>, with 18 years of experience working with divorcing clients, advises that divorcing couples may want to consult with an attorney and make the decision whether to sell the home before <\/i>reaching out to a real estate agent.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019ve got a belligerent situation, and one party says they\u2019re not going to sell no matter what \u2014 that they\u2019re going to sabotage this process \u2014 then I don\u2019t even list the home,\u201d says Williams. \u201cIf it\u2019s court-ordered, that\u2019s a different situation. They have to cooperate.\u201d<\/p>\n Keeping the house in a divorce<\/a> and buying out your spouse\u2019s share of the home to assume full ownership could make sense for several reasons:<\/p>\n In the event that you want to keep the home, you need to consider whether you can actually afford to do so.<\/p>\n In most cases, the spouses have qualified for their mortgage amount together. So you first need to determine whether you can afford to qualify for a mortgage independently. But keep in mind that because a buyout typically involves pulling out a big chunk of equity, the payment will be significantly higher.<\/p>\n Brown warns that there are a lot of potential pitfalls to this situation. \u201cSometimes, they will agree to hold the home in common to get the kids through school and will do it for way too long\u201d which may create resentment years down the road.\u201d He continues, \u201cWhen agreeing to defer refinancing, they may not put in a temporal trigger, for example, 90 days after the decree being signed. So one spouse can wait 10 years to refinance and there\u2019s nothing you can do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n If one party is planning to keep the home, make sure you get solid legal advice to determine the best course of action for your individual circumstances.<\/p>\n Lawyers.com, a legal consumer website from Martindale-Hubbell<\/a>, reports that \u201cmore than 90% of divorce cases settle prior to trial<\/a> \u2014 either by one spouse offering a settlement that the other accepts or at mediation.\u201d<\/p>\n If you and your spouse can agree on how to divide assets, you might be able to negotiate a settlement agreement between the two of you without the assistance of an attorney. This is known as an uncontested divorce<\/a> and could save you time and money.<\/p>\n However, while James L. Powers, a Chicago-based attorney with more than 30 years of experience, says that couples can choose this route, it\u2019s not necessarily in their best interest.<\/p>\n \u201cAs it relates to drafting a marital property settlement agreement, I think an attorney is necessary because we\u2019re dealing with issues or finances that people don\u2019t know about \u2014 even down to making sure that there\u2019s a full disclosure of all data,\u201d says Powers.<\/p>\n Since an attorney can only legally represent one spouse in a divorce case, to avoid a conflict of interest, the benefit of both parties cooperating and coming to an agreement is huge.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019ve heard people say \u2018We only got one attorney,\u2019 it\u2019s usually people who\u2019ve reached an agreement on their own, and one of the parties hired the attorney who then represents that party and drafts the documentation. But, technically, the other party is pro se<\/a> which means they represent themselves,\u201d Powers explains.<\/p>\n In the wake of a divorce, one of two things typically happens to the mortgage on joint property: you sell the home and each spouse collects their share of the net proceeds<\/a>, or one spouse takes full ownership of the home by refinancing the mortgage under their name.<\/p>\n Browning warns, \u201cPeople don\u2019t realize that in order to remove someone from the home, it\u2019s not just a title thing, but it requires refinancing through a lender. If payments aren\u2019t made and the home goes into foreclosure, then it affects both partners.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, the spouse assuming ownership will need the necessary income and credit score to qualify for the new loan.<\/p>\n The process gets more complicated if a divorcing couple is underwater on their home<\/a>, meaning they owe more on the home than it\u2019s currently worth, or if they\u2019re facing financial hardship.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe the husband quit paying the mortgage and they\u2019re behind, so short sales are a possibility,\u201d says Williams.<\/p>\n Short sales<\/a> occur when the lender agrees to let you sell your home for less than you owe on the mortgage in lieu of having to go through selling a house in foreclosure<\/a>, and they require a special niche of real estate expertise.<\/p>\n \u201cIn one case, we dealt with the bank directly, which the person was very grateful for,\u201d Williams adds. \u201cWe were the go-between. Because they were so far behind in the mortgage and because divorce often results in financial disaster, at least they had that option.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\n\n\n\n HomeLight\u00a0can connect you with a Certified Divorce Real Estate Expert in your area or a top agent with valuable experience helping couples successfully sell their homes due to divorce.<\/p>\n \n ![\"homelight](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ccprototypev5\/images\/logo-small-cta.png\"){kind=logo}
\n <\/div>\n \n Unsure What to Do With the House? <\/h3>\n
1. How is a home calculated in a divorce?<\/h2>\n
Community property (the minority of states)<\/h3>\n
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Equitable distribution (the majority of states)<\/h3>\n
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2. Should I keep or sell the home in a divorce?<\/h2>\n
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3. Should I buy out my spouse\u2019s share of the home?<\/h2>\n
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4. Will my divorce settle or go to trial?<\/h2>\n
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People don\u2019t realize that in order to remove someone from the home, it\u2019s not just a title thing, but it requires refinancing through a lender. If payments aren\u2019t made and the home goes into foreclosure, then it affects both partners.<\/q>\n
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5. What happens to the mortgage after I divorce?<\/h2>\n
\n <\/div>\n \n Partner With a Top Agent Experienced in Divorce Sales<\/h3>\n