I often hear, “What happens when I want to keep the house but they want a quick sale?”
I’ll be honest, the answer is gut wrenching. It really is. There is no easy way to put it.
The Judge’s Decision
If both spouses cannot agree on what they want to do with the home, then it’s up the judge to decide. All choice has been removed from your hands. In Colorado when a spouse files for divorce, there is an automatic injunction which means no assets can be sold until the judge makes their final decision. All debts and all assets get put into a big pool to sort through and assign to each spouse.
Sometimes the judge will award the house solely to one spouse, but most often the spouse who wants to stay has to buy out the spouse who wants to sell. The marital home is usually the biggest asset a couple has and this can be financially draining for the spouse who wants to stay. Not to mention refinancing the home solely into the in-spouse’s name.
We Can Keep It With Both Our Names
You may say, “I don’t have to sell my home because my soon to be ex agreed to let me keep it.”
Hearing this always causes me to catch my breath. There a few things to consider when keeping the house. One is, will you have the money and time to take care of the house all on your own? Really be honest with yourself and try to remove the emotion of wanting to stay when analyzing this.
The other is making sure that the spouse staying is the only name on the mortgage and deed. Check out this blog post where I talk about just that. This is vital! Both spouses cannot stay on the mortgage or the deed. It’s a disaster waiting to happen for each spouse.
Quick Sale or Stay?
When both spouses can’t agree on keeping or selling the house, it’s absolutely vital to think about this from a logical financial perspective. It can be financially draining to keep the house for the in-spouse because income has been cut out of the budget. Plus, it often causes more problems down the road when getting that fresh start.
Most of the time, it’s better to sell the house and buy something new from both an emotional and a financial perspective. You can make new happy memories and keep up on all the things a house needs.
In my book The House Divided, I talk about this subject in much more depth in chapter three. If you haven’t gotten your free digital copy, you can go here. If you’re more of a paperback person, go here.