A divorce is never easy for either of the parties, emotionally and financially. There are a whole lot of things to be settled, especially when it comes to deciding about the marital home. Divorcing couples have to worry about transferring mortgages and taking care of the monthly costs of maintaining a home from the income of one of them.
The simplest way to skirt these complex issues is selling a house during the divorce, dividing the sale proceeds between both people and starting life on a new note. Do not take any decision on your own but work out the financial aspects with your spouse. The divided money should help both of you live a comfortable life after divorce.
Why Experts Suggest Selling Your House During Divorce
Even though you do not necessarily have to decide to put your house on the market during a divorce, we at Just Livin Realty suggest that doing so is a good choice. Despite going through the emotional turmoil of parting with so many memories linked to your home, our experts feel that this action cuts out many complexities that you might face later.
Let us go through a few of them.
Legal Aspects
Most couples contribute to a home purchase even though it is not an equal split. Now, if you cannot decide who will own it post-divorce, the court will step in and decide on your behalf.
In such cases, be ready for disappointment as court battles rarely work out to the satisfaction of both parties. It can lead to bitterness between the two of you, further complicating the divorce case.
On the other hand, by selling your house during the divorce, you stop worrying as to what will happen to the house after the divorce. Agreeing to sell early and dividing the money avoids the complexities and expense of a legal battle.
Financial Aspects
When a house is bought together, couples have two incomes to pay for the maintenance which includes the mortgage payments. By not selling a house during a divorce agreement, one of them has to shoulder all the expenses like insurance, mortgage, and payment of property taxes.
Moreover, selling a house during a divorce helps the spouses cash in on home equity and divide the profit, all under amicable conditions.
Liability Aspects
There are many liabilities that you take upon yourself as a single owner if you are not selling your house during a divorce. Even though you might have the means to maintain the house, the lender has to agree to this setup and will evaluate whether you have the required income to take care of the increased mortgage alone.
Now, if a lender does not back a single owner and the other spouse does not agree to continue to make the mortgage payments on the house, you will be forced to sell the house or risk foreclosure. Homeownership is not easy and there are several financial parameters to be followed. You must take these risks alone or else run the possibility of losing your credit or destroying your home.
Given all these reasons, Just Livin Realty recommends selling the house during a divorce agreement.
Court Order For Selling House During Divorce Agreement
What happens if the spouses cannot agree on selling a house during divorce themselves? In the event of a lack of mutual agreement on dividing the property or even being unable to decide whether to sell or not, the court might step in and order the sale of the house. This is known as a partition sale or forced sale.
Courts always believe in equitable distribution. Hence, when they order selling the house during a divorce agreement, they will ensure that the proceeds of the sale are divided in a fair and just manner.
This is true even in community property states where spouses are entitled to half of everything that has been acquired during the marriage. Here too, the judges work hard to split the property evenly between the spouses in a fair manner. The courts have the power to step in while spouses are trying to sell a house during divorce if disagreements arise such as how much to sell the house for.
Just Livin Realty advises couples not to take the court route if possible and to arrive at an amicable settlement beforehand. This is because a forced sale is always emotionally traumatic during a divorce, not only for the spouses but the children too. Generally, though, while resorting to a forced sale, the courts consider the best interests of any minors.
If you are thinking of selling your home during divorce, consult our experts at Just Livin Realty. We will help you to arrive at a mutual agreement on dividing the property before it goes out of your hands to the courts and a forced sale.