You and your spouse have a nice family home. You worked hard and purchased a property that is worth a good amount of money. You’ve lived there for years, and as a result, it has also increased in value.
Today, as you think about your divorce, you wonder how you’re going to be able to divide such an important asset. The good news is that there are multiple options to consider. Some of the possibilities include:
- Buying your spouse out, so you can keep the home
- Allowing your spouse to buy you out, so they can keep the home
- Selling your home and splitting the profits
- Renting out the home to others, so you have a rental income that you share
- Keeping the home and using it as a vacation/holiday property
These options, and which ones you prefer, will vary depending on your personal financial situation. For example, if you want to keep your home, you should look at how much you have to spend and how keeping your home will affect your budget. Can you afford to buy out your spouse or give them the assets they need to leave it in your possession?
If your spouse wants the house and you don’t, you can allow them to buy your half of the property. They can do that by giving you a fair portion of assets in exchange or by giving you cash, for example.
It’s more common for people to sell the home and to split the profits from the sale. Doing that allows you to both walk away, but you will have, hopefully, profits that will help you as you move forward.
Other possible options include turning the property into a shared rental, which you both can make profits on, or keeping the home to use as a vacation property. Then, if you decide to sell it later in life, it may be worth more, too.
These are a few options for you to consider as you try to decide what to do with your home. Your attorney can talk to you about other options as well.