Real Estate Sales During Or After The Divorce

If you and your spouse are not at an impasse about which of you will keep the marital home after your divorce becomes final, you have avoided the worst-case scenario. Even if you agree about which spouse, if either, keeps the house, implementing your plan about transferring it from joint ownership to its new destination is tedious. For example, if you owe a mortgage on the house, then the spouse who keeps it must refinance the mortgage to a new one where he or she is the sole borrower. Even if you are fortunate enough to own the house outright, you must still pay your spouse an equalizing payment if you keep the house, unless you are so wealthy that both spouses emerge from the divorce with their respective hauls of valuable property, such as if you keep the house but your spouse keeps the former family business. Agreeing that neither of you can afford to keep the house, and that you must sell it and divide the proceeds, is the easy part, but selling a house, even in happy circumstances such as selling your old house to buy a bigger one that can accommodate your growing family and your growing nest egg, is a challenge. If your divorce case involves the sale of the former marital home, contact a Birmingham divorce lawyer.

Getting the Court Involved in the Sale of Your House Is As Unpleasant As It Sounds

Some couples who sell the marital home in their divorce do so while the case is pending. This usually happens in contentious cases that go to trial, where the parties disagree about how much money each party should get from the sale of the marital home. When that happens, the court must review every offer the parties receive, and every counter-offer they make, before they finalize the sale. It is exhausting for the spouses and their real estate agent.

Be Specific in Your Marital Settlement Agreement About How the Former Spouses Must Tie Up Loose Ends

A more common scenario is when the spouses agree in mediation about the sale of the marital home. They can indicate in the marital settlement agreement (MSA) that they will sell the house and divide the proceeds, and the judge can sign the MSA and finalize the divorce before the sale closes. This leaves you legally single but with unfinished business. One couple ended up back in court because the husband listed the house for sale by owner, but it didn’t sell; the wife believed that, if he had hired a real estate agent, they could have finalized the sale more quickly.

Contact Peeples Law About the Sale of Your Former Marital Home

A Birmingham family law attorney can help you if you and your ex-spouse have agreed that selling your former marital home and dividing the proceeds is the best option, but it is more difficult than you expected.  Contact Peeples Law in Birmingham, Alabama today to schedule a consultation.

Source:

msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/we-agreed-to-sell-our-house-and-split-the-proceeds-after-our-divorce-but-my-husband-wants-to-sell-the-home-himself-without-a-realtor-now-what/ss-AA1MO7wm?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=68cc17f6b0994d74ac368b8423ebf15b&ei=10#image=3