Welcome back and thanks for joining us again. In our previous post we talked about the difficulty of assigning a value to your home, and who to talk to in order to have your home evaluated. But now that you’ve had it done, you’ve got a number and you know the value of your house, what are you going to do? Well, you have choices. Let’s look at what they are.

You could sell your home and split the profits.

For many couples, staying in their home isn’t an option after divorce because of the costs involved. Monthly mortgage payments, along with bills and basic maintenance costs can be too much for one person to handle alone. So selling the house and dividing up the profits is the only feasible choice.

At this point, you could move into an apartment or purchase another home. Although buying another house sounds like it will put you back at square one, it really won’t! Buying a smaller home with a lower mortgage will mean much smaller monthly payments. It will also allow you to begin investing again in something for your future, if that’s a route you’d like to take

One spouse could buy the other spouse out, and then stay in the home

If your home is your largest joint investment, you can always have one spouse buy the other spouse out for their portion of the property. In other words, if your home is worth $100,000, the spouse that chooses to stay in the house and keep it could agree to pay off the departing spouse thier $50,000.

This sort of arrangement is usually worked out with the assistance of an attorney. The couple draws up contract which spells out the structured payments that will be made by one spouse to another over time. Sometimes the house is refinanced to help with payments.

One spouse could keep the home and forfeit other items of value

For some divorcing couples, staying in the home makes sense for their children, and so they find ways to make it work fairly for both of them. This may include having one spouse keep the house, while the other one gets to keep the retirement accounts, or the contents of the savings account. Either way, this is a decision best made with the guidance of an attorney.

Talk to a divorce attorney about your home and your options

There are numerous ways to divide up assets when a couple divorces. However the home is usually the one items that causes the most stress. This can be dealt with relatively easily, though, if you and your spouse are willing to work together to achieve a fair outcome, and you have a good attorney helping you make those critical decisions for your future.

As Brandy Thompson points out, the best thing you can do in this situation is be realistic. “If you cannot afford to maintain the home, with all it’s expenses, on your own, you need to sell or let the other side buy you out. It will likely be better off getting a fresh start in an affordable home rather than taking on something you can’t afford.”

Do you need help with asset division during your divorce?

With that in mind, if you or a loved one are considering divorce, and want help, or have questions about the process, call The Kronzek Firm at 866 766 5245. Our skilled family law attorneys can help you prepare for whatever the future holds, and guide you towards the choices that’ll put you and your children on the path towards a brighter future. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays.