How can my ex and I can split up our home during our divorce?

On Behalf of | Dec 28, 2017 | Property Division |

In the case of most marriages, a home is the most valuable shared asset the two of you may own. For some spouses, it may even carry a strong sentimental value. In either case, you and your ex may have difficulty reaching an agreement as to how you’re going to split it up when you divorce.

One of perhaps the easiest ways of splitting up a marital property is to simply sell it, dividing up the proceeds made by doing so between the two of you. Provided that the sale of your home doesn’t go over $250,000 and that you’ve lived in the home for at least two during the last five years, then you’ll avoid having to pay federal taxes on the net profits.

If you have minor children that have lived in the home for a significant portion of their lives, then one of you may decide to continue living there until they go off to college or move out. Once they begin their adult lives, you two may finally decide to sell the property and split the proceeds.

There is a downside to doing this though. If you do this, the spouse that moved out during the divorce proceedings will likely have to pay federal gains on any proceeds made from the home’s sale.

Another option for dealing with splitting up your home in a divorce is to simply buy out your husband or wife’s interest in the house. In order to be able to do this, you may want to talk to your bank about taking out a mortgage. Alternatively, you may have some money in savings, an inheritance or money in a retirement account that you can use to do so instead.

Before you either agree to accept or offer a certain amount for the home, you should have an appraiser assess its fair market value.

If you’re considering getting a divorce and you and your ex share a home, then a Rutehrford County, Tennessee, property division attorney can guide you as you look to split it up.

Source: AOL., “4 Smart Ways to Split the House During a Divorce,” accessed Dec. 28, 2017