Many divorced couples sell their family home when they end their marriage. They use this as a property division tactic because they can just split up the money they get from the sale. In some cases, one person will remain as the owner of the house, buying out the other person’s share.
But there are also situations in which divorced couples will stay on as joint homeowners. They can keep owning the home together, even after the marriage ends. Why would they do this?
Providing stability for the children
One potential reason is when the children are going to keep living in the family home even after the divorce. Perhaps the parents are interested in birdnesting. They just want to give their children more stability, so they keep the house, even though they do not both live there at the same time.
A financial investment
In other cases, this is purely a financial issue. A couple may decide to rent the property out because they know that they can generate income, or they may want to keep the property for a certain amount of time and sell it when the market is in their favor. It’s financially advantageous to hold onto the property.
Keeping a shared mortgage
In some cases, refinancing a mortgage may be unaffordable for the person who wants to keep the house. In an amicable divorce, their ex may agree to stay on the paperwork so that they can keep the home. But this is a risk because it means they are also liable if their ex begins missing payments.
There are many different things to consider when dividing property during a divorce. Be sure you know exactly what legal options you have.