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The house is often one of the hardest parts of a divorce to sort out. It may be your largest asset, but it is also where you live, where your children sleep, and where years of family life took place.
That can make financial decisions feel personal very quickly.
You may want to stay in the home because moving feels like one more disruption. Your spouse may want to sell because neither of you can afford the property alone. Sometimes both people want the house. Other times, neither person wants the mortgage once the numbers are laid out.
There is no single outcome in a New Jersey divorce. The house may be sold, transferred to one spouse, or kept for a period of time before a later sale.
Who Gets to Stay in the Family Home During Divorce?
You do not automatically lose the right to stay in the house because your spouse wants you out.
Some couples decide that one person will remain there while the divorce is pending. This can make life easier when children need to stay in the same school district or one spouse already has another place to live.
The arrangement can become more difficult when neither spouse wants to leave.
How New Jersey Divides a Home Between Spouses
New Jersey law uses an equitable distribution model to fairly split marital property in a divorce. That means the court looks for a fair division based on the circumstances rather than automatically splitting every asset down the middle.
A house purchased during the marriage is generally part of the marital estate. It does not necessarily belong entirely to the spouse whose name appears on the deed.
Before you can decide what to do with the house, you need to know what it is worth. You may need an appraisal or other reliable valuation. Then consider the mortgage and other debt secured by the property when calculating equity.
What Happens When One Spouse Wants to Keep the House?
Keeping the house may sound like the best option until you calculate what it will cost after the divorce.
The mortgage payment is only one expense. You will also need to handle taxes, insurance, repairs, utilities, and routine maintenance on one post-divorce household budget. You also need to address your spouse’s share of the equity.
You might trade other marital assets for that interest. One spouse could receive more retirement funds or savings while the other keeps the property. In other cases, the spouse keeping the house may need to refinance and pay the other spouse for their share.
When Selling the Family Home May Be Necessary
Selling may be the cleanest solution when neither spouse can reasonably afford the home alone.
It may also free up money both people need to start over. Equity from the sale can help pay for a new home, rent, debt, moving expenses, or other costs that come with maintaining two households instead of one.
A sale still requires planning.
You need to decide when to list the house, who chooses the real estate agent, how to set the listing price, and who pays for repairs. You also need an agreement about the mortgage and other expenses until closing.
How a New Jersey Divorce Attorney Can Protect Your Property Interests
Don’t negotiate the family home on its own.
A decision about the house can affect retirement accounts, savings, debt, support, and your ability to afford life after the divorce. Before agreeing to keep or give up the property, you need to see the larger financial picture.
Your attorney can review the deed, mortgage, purchase records, appraisals, and documentation showing where money for the home came from. That information may matter when determining what portion of the property belongs in the marital estate.
A lawyer can also help you evaluate proposed settlement terms before you sign them.
Keeping the house may feel like a win today. It may not feel that way a year later if the mortgage and repair costs leave you with no room in your budget.
Work With DeTorres DeGeorge Family Law to Navigate Your Divorce
At DeTorres & DeGeorge Family Law, we help New Jersey clients make decisions about the family home as part of the larger divorce process.
You may want to keep the house. You may be ready to sell it. You may simply need someone to help you figure out what you can realistically afford before you decide.
We can review the property, your finances, and your options. Contact DeTorres & DeGeorge Family Law at (908) 923-0150 or (973) 828-8079 to schedule a consultation and discuss what should happen to your home as you move through your divorce.
