Are you worried about losing your home when you get divorced? It’s understandable. You and your spouse are joint owners and you have to divide your assets. You may assume that this means you’ll have to sell the house, transforming it into a financial asset that you can split in half.
And that is one option that you have, but do not assume that it is required. There are a few different ways that you can keep the house if you’d like.
Surrendering other assets
One option is to give up other assets in exchange for your spouse’s ownership of the home. They may be willing to take a vacation property or a retirement account, for example. You can then take over their ownership share, refinance your mortgage and become the sole owner. Even if your spouse refuses to trade other assets, they may allow you to buy their ownership percentage if you qualify for a mortgage that makes that affordable.
Owning the home together
In certain situations, it may actually be beneficial for you and your ex to continue owning the home jointly. It could help your custody arrangement, for example, if you’re thinking about bird nesting. You may also think of your home as an important investment property, believing that you’ll make more money if you sell it in the future, so you may decide to continue as co-owners until it seems like the ideal time to put the home on the market.
You do have a lot of options during a divorce, but you can see how they may make the process a bit more complicated. Take the time to carefully look into all of your legal options when getting divorced and dividing marital assets.