What to do with a House during a Divorce in Florida

In a divorce, the parties will need to decide whether to sell or keep the marital home. While some parties become very attached to the marital home or wish to keep the marital home for the stability of the children, others approach the marital home as a pure financial decision. When determining what to do with the marital home, there are essentially three options.

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Option 1 – The parties can sell the marital home and split the proceeds. This is the easiest and most obvious solution. However, this may not be feasible if there is no equity in the home and the parties do not have the funds to pay off a deficiency or the ability to do a short sale.

Option 2 – One party can refinance the marital home and pay the other party his or her equity in the home. If one party wishes to remain in the marital home, he or she will need to refinance the marital home to remove the other party’s name from the note and mortgage. In addition to transferring the mortgage into that party’s name, the party keeping the home must pay the other spouse half of the equity in the marital home. For example, if the home is worth $350,000 and you owe $250,000 on the mortgage, you must transfer the mortgage of $250,000 into your name and pay your spouse $50,0000.

Option 3 – The final option, which is typically not recommended, is for one party to continue to live in the marital home and the home to be sold at a future date. Typically, when the minor children graduate high school. This is usually only done when the marital home is underwater, and the parties are unable to sell the marital home. The parties will equally divide the value, negative or positive, of the marital home as of the date of the dissolution. However, the spouse that remains in the home and pays the mortgage will receive credit for the reduction in the debt that occurs after the Final Judgment is entered or Marital Settlement Agreement is executed. Read more about selling the home at a later date.