SERVING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S HIGH-ASSET DIVORCE NEEDS

What if you want to keep the house after divorce?

On Behalf of | Aug 11, 2022 | Property Division

You’re getting a divorce, and you’re interested in keeping your home. You proposed the idea of continuing to jointly own your home to your spouse, but they have rejected it. They don’t like the idea that they would remain on the mortgage and therefore be responsible for any payments that you may miss in the future.

This means that they just want to sell the house and split the money, but you can’t stand the thought of seeing your dream home go to someone else. What can you do?

You can buy your spouse’s share of the house

One potential solution here is simply to buy the share of the house that your partner already owns. This allows them to get their money out of it, which is what they wanted all along, but you get to move the home into your name exclusively. You can refinance your mortgage as part of this process.

The real thing that keeps people from doing this is simply how expensive it can be. Say that your home is worth $500,000 more than what you owe on it. That’s money that you would gain in a straight sale to a third party. You know that your spouse is already counting on getting that $250,000. To buy their share, you need to be able to give them that money or other assets with equal value in order to take over as the full owner of the house.

If this is an affordable option, however, it can give both of you what you want. It also saves you the trouble of putting the house up for sale and paying the fees that go along with it. Make sure you know exactly what legal steps you can take as you sort out this complex property division process.

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