Divorce and Property Division: How To Dispose of the Marital Home

Today, as an Augusta, Georgia divorce lawyer, I want to talk a little bit about some of the practical points to consider when dealing with the disposition of a marital home in a divorce. As you can see, I chose a photograph of the White House to illustrate this post! Fortunately, for the President, his marriage appears to be pretty solid!  But even if his marriage hit the rocks, at least he wouldn't have to worry about how to deal with the disposition of this "marital home!"

But maybe you aren't so fortunate.  Perhaps you are going through a divorce and you must confront the question of what to do about the marital home, especially since there is no way that you and your worthless spouse, "Sluggo," can continue to live under the same roof!  What should you do?

Laying aside some of the obvious questions, such as how to decide who should get the marital home, and how do you sell a house in today's frigid housing market, here are a couple of other important points for you to consider and to raise with your own divorce attorney:

1.  IF SLUGGO WANTS TO KEEP THE HOUSE:  Let's assume that the home mortgage is in both of your names.  Even if your spouse wants to keep the house, and even if you are willing to let him do so, it is important that you make sure the settlement agreement provides that he has a deadline within which to refinance, to take your name off the mortgage, and to pay you your fair share of the equity.  You would be surprised at how many people we talk with, as Augusta, Georgia divorce attorneys, who have not considered these important issues!

2.  IF SLUGGO CANNOT REFINANCE THE HOUSE:  In the event that Sluggo cannot, or does not, refinance the home mortgage within the allotted time, you should also discuss with your divorce lawyer the idea of including in your settlement agreement a default provision providing that, following the refinancing deadline, the home must be listed and sold.  Also, you and your divorce attorney could include some language providing for appraisals and methods to arrive at a fair sale price, in the event that you and your spouse cannot agree on it.

Again, the point of this post is that you should discuss with your own divorce attorney some of the ways to accomplish selling the marital home, getting your name off the mortgage, and obtaining your fair share of the home equity.  We, at The Goolsby Law Firm, LLC, enjoy helping our divorce clients every day to deal with such important issues in their divorces.  Again, it is important that you find your own divorce attorney to help you though these critical divorce issues involving property division.

You may not live in the White House, but, following a divorce, you still don't want to be stuck with liability for the marital home mortgage, especially if you aren't living there!  Let Sluggo pay it!