Possibility 1: Promote the home and break up the fairness
Dividing the sale proceeds equitably for all events can assist cowl the down fee on a brand new house, help an ex with relocating, and grant each of you a clear slate. That sounds easy — offered the home is marital property.
“If one person bought the house before the marriage, that might not even be on the table,” stated Shawn Leamon, a licensed monetary analyst in Dallas, Texas, who focuses on divorce issues and hosts the favored podcast “Divorce and Your Money.”
Most states are “common law property states,” that means {that a} property acquired throughout a wedding is totally and solely owned by the partner who earned it until the title or deed is within the names of each folks.
California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, Texas, Wisconsin, and Louisiana are “community property” states, that means that each one belongings — and money owed — acquired in the course of the marriage belong equally to each spouses. Any belongings acquired earlier than the wedding are thought-about separate property until a partner transfers a title to the opposite partner.
A choose can order a divorcing couple to promote a home to cowl excellent money owed and different bills, by which case you’d each be left with much less fairness to divide. Additionally, relying in your state’s property and homestead legal guidelines, you might need a state of affairs the place you’re divvying up only a share of the home’s proceeds. As an illustration, you owned the home earlier than marriage, however each of you contributed to renovations.
“It’s not a fifty-fifty thing,” Dorman famous.
If the house sale proceeds are a part of your divorce settlement, you might not have the ability to finalize the divorce till the home sells.
