Evaluate your circumstances to determine when and how the equity in the house is best split, and whether that must be accomplished by a sale, or a refinance or buy-out between spouses. Sometimes it can be done immediately, and in other situations a delay is preferable.
If one spouse wishes to keep the house, and there is a way to divide the equity and offset it against other assets, or refinance the house so that the spouse giving up the house is paid his or her share of the house as soon as possible, then the spouse retaining the house would be under no obligation to sell the house subsequently. This is the cleanest way to handle this situation.
However, you may not be in the economic position to split your home equity in this manner, or may be ineligible or unable to afford a refinance. Therefore the timing of how a spouse is paid his or her share of the house equity becomes a central issue.
If the division of equity will not happen immediately, there may be an obvious dividing point, such as when the children graduate from high school or college, the remarriage of the spouse retaining the house, whenever that spouse begins to live with someone under circumstances tantamount to remarriage, or any other life event that you determine in advance. Generally, when the first of these events occurs, the spouse who gave up ownership of the house or right to occupy the house needs to be paid his or her equity, either through a refinance or a sale. Sometimes, the spouse to whom payment is owed is given an opportunity to buy the house if the spouse who retained the house wishes to sell it at that time. If you want help in considering all of your options, consider meeting with a divorce financial planner, see https://www.institutedfa.com/ReferralSearchPage.aspx. Also, be sure to see the Peace Talks resource center at http://www.peace-talks.com/resources.php.
Excerpted from Your Divorce Advisor: A Lawyer and a Psychologist Guide You Through the Legal and Emotional Landscape of Divorce (Simon & Schuster/Fireside 2001). For more information: http://www.yourdivorceadvisor.com/.
For more information contact Peace Talks www.peace-talks.com
(C) 2008 Peace Talks Mediation Services, Inc.
Related posts:
- Negotiations Once the Value of the House is Set
- Determining the Value of the House
- Arrangements for the Sale of Your Home
- Sell or Keep the House?
Tags: Creating Fair S, Working with Your Spouse, Your Responsibilites, Your Rights
Changing your perspective can alter how you approach a situation completely. It’s your ideas that trigger your emotions which drive how you behave. You cannot control what goes on for you, but you can control how you react to it!