One of the biggest decisions, besides child custody matters, that you will have to make when you divorce is what will happen to the marital home. This decision isn’t always easy to make, but knowing your options is a good place to start.
Here are four ways that you can consider when you need to come up with a plan.
Share the house
Sharing the house isn’t an option that many people will consider. In this arrangement, your children will live in the home all the time. They won’t ever have to move. Instead, you and your ex will be the ones who move around. You will move into the house on the days when you have the children and your ex will stay there on his or her days. This does require that you have one or two other places so that the parent who isn’t staying in the marital home has a place to stay.
Sell the house
You can sell the house now and split the profits. There might be tax implications to this, so make sure that you find out how it will impact you. The benefit to this option is that you are done with the house and don’t have to worry about it.
Hold onto the house
There is also the option of keeping the house now and selling it later. You and your ex would need to decide when to sell it, but this might be an option if the custodial parent wants to continue to live in the home with the children.
Spousal buyout
There is also the option of one spouse buying the other spouse out of his or her share of the property. This option can be handled through adjusting the property division settlement or by exchanging cash. Think carefully about this option since it would require the purchasing spouse to cover all of the expenses of the home in the future.
Source: AOL.com, “4 Smart Ways to Split the House During a Divorce,” accessed Dec. 22, 2017