In many cases, couples who get divorced will sell their house. Their reasoning is that they have to divide their assets. Selling the house is the easiest way to do it because they just split up the money that they earned.
But are there situations in which a couple would keep their home? Maybe you live in an expensive neighborhood and own a dream house. You don’t want to lose the home, and you may even be unsure if you could afford to buy another property in that same neighborhood. So are there ways to keep the home?
You can buy your ex’s share
If you do qualify for a new mortgage on your own, one potential option is to buy your ex’s share of the house. You become the sole owner of the home. Your ex takes the money from the sale, and moves on, effectively dividing your marital assets. The biggest question is just whether or not you will get the mortgage now that you have one income instead of two.
You can own the home together
It’s also possible for you and your ex to keep owning the house together. Maybe you can see that the real estate market is going up. You may want to keep the home for a few years so that you can sell it at a higher price point.
Or, perhaps you have children who are still in school. They’re going to be heading off to college in a few short years. Some couples will decide to keep their family home jointly so that the children have more stability and don’t have to move. It is certainly legal to be co-owners of a property, even if you’ve gotten divorced and no longer live together.
As you can see, there are a lot of different options for the family home during a high-asset divorce. Just be sure you know what legal steps to take.