“Who will get the house?” is one of the first questions people often ask when they hear a couple is divorcing. If you are part of that divorcing couple, it is important to understand you have options.
It is also essential to understand that keeping the home is not always the win people make it out to be. North Carolina works on the principle that marital property should be divided equally unless doing so would not be equitable. Equitable in this context refers to just and fair.
As your home may well be the most valuable item you own together, you’d need to look at what the person keeping the home would have to even things up. Would they have to allow the other person to take the entire contents of the savings account and give up a portion of their retirement fund or pension, leaving them short in later life? Would they need to give up a business they share, leaving them needing a new source of income? Or are you in a position where you own several pieces of real estate and the person who does not take the house takes another property instead?
No one has to keep the house
Sometimes, the best option is to sell the house. That way, you can rid yourselves of the mortgage and have a sum of cash to throw into the pot of marital property to be split. It can also help you both move on by freeing you from the memories the house may contain.
You could even keep it together
There are couples who continue to own property together after they divorce. They might do this to allow their children to finish school in the current area or to wait until prices rise before they eventually sell.
Whatever option you go for, make sure you get guidance as to the legal and financial consequences of each choice.
