Time after time, one of the first questions we get from clients in the middle of a divorce is “Who gets the house?” While there are many options, Florida is what’s called an “equitable division” state. Which means, everything is divided down the middle. But the house? How do we split THAT in two?
Good question.
First, let’s look at whether the house is marital property, meaning, did you buy the house while you were married? If so, yep. You’re going to split that down the middle. But how?
Second, before we decide “how”, we’ll need to look at the value of the home. That first needs to be assessed before any division of assets are brought to the table. If an agreement cannot be reached on the market value of the home, an appraisal or comparative market analysis can be obtained to assess the value of the home.
Third, once there is an agreed upon or assessed value of the marital property, there are quite a few options to consider in dividing a house. The three most common ones are…
- Buying out your spouse – depending on the value of the home, one spouse will buy out the other considering an equitable share. If the home is valued at $100,000, one spouse will buy out the other for $50,000.
- Selling the house – a lot of times, couples aren’t able to come to an agreement on “who gets the house” so, they opt to sell the home. Once the home is sold, the money left after any loans on the home are settled, it gets split 50/50.
- Possession – another common solution is when one spouse takes possession of the house. The other spouse would then take other valuable assets to balance out the distribution of the home to only one party.
It all sounds so easy, right? Wrong.
Yes. The information we shared seems simple, but honestly, you need an attorney that is skilled with the division of assets. It takes years of experience and knowledge to really know the ins and outs and understand the tiny details that pop up when handling this situation. And that’s where me and my team come into play. We truly bring all of our experience and knowledge of family law to the table. We’re able to find solutions that aren’t necessarily the easiest ones to find. And we do this because we’re committed to the finding the best outcome for our clients. Call us. #HereForYou. 407-757-2883
