Of all the assets people acquire throughout their lives, their homes are often the most valuable. They can also be a point of pride for many people. First-time homeowners often enjoy buying fixer-uppers and turning them into beautiful living spaces. Those who have improved on their childhood circumstances might be the first generation in their family to own a home.
All of that can be at risk when married couples decide to divorce. Divorce means dividing property, including the home where spouses lived together. What can couples generally expect when divorcing in Florida as homeowners?
A house is rarely a winner-take-all asset
People often worry about losing possession of a home during a divorce because they assume that the spouse who keeps the house has effectively won the divorce proceedings. However, in most cases it could be patently unfair to award the home and the accrued equity in the property to one spouse.
Unless there is a marital agreement on record establishing the home as the separate property of one spouse, at least a portion of the home’s value is likely subject to division in the divorce. To handle the house appropriately, spouses often begin by hiring an appraiser or a real estate agent to determine the current fair market value of the property.
From there, they either litigate or negotiate to decide who retains possession of the home. Factors including income and credit, as well as child custody arrangements, can influence who stays at the home and who leaves. The spouse who stays in the home often needs to refinance to compensate the other spouse for their share of equity.
Occasionally, when spouses haven’t owned the home for long or haven’t accrued much equity in the property, they may determine that selling the house and splitting the revenue generated by the sale is the best option. In rare cases, spouses sometimes agree to retain joint ownership by establishing a birdnesting custody arrangement or treating the property as a rental home and a source of revenue. Spouses have the option of setting any terms that they believe are reasonable and fair, or they can ask a judge to apply the equitable distribution law to their marital estate, including their accumulated home equity.
Knowing what happens with major assets during property division proceedings can help people prepare for a pending Florida divorce. Spouses who have a home to address may need to plan carefully to protect their interest in that property.