Your home is where you retreat when the world stresses you out or frightens you. It is where you accumulate wealth through the gradual development of equity and ongoing investments in the appearance and function of the home. It is where you raise your family, cook your meals and store your belongings.
Your home can also be a major source of disagreement when you file for divorce. Both you and your spouse may have invested a lot of your income into paying for the home or your energy into its maintenance and upkeep. Who will get to keep the house when the two of you divorce?
Many factors influence what happens with your marital home
Do you have a prenuptial agreement discussing the home because your spouse owned it prior to marriage? Did you inherit the property from your parents? Sometimes, the home where you live is actually the separate property of one spouse. In these rare situations, that spouse will likely keep the home and may not need to share much of its value with their ex in the divorce.
Most of the time, however, a home is marital property. The courts will look at the ability of each person to maintain the home and other factors when deciding how to allocate the house in a divorce. The custody arrangements for your children and the health of you and your ex may affect what a judge decides is fair and appropriate.
The goal and property division in Minnesota is an equitable solution, so that means that even if you don’t keep the house, you can at least receive part of its value.
There are pros and cons to retaining the marital home
Obviously, staying in the home where you have lived for years will minimize your personal disruptions in the divorce. It can also make the transition easier for your children.
However, keeping the house means that you will likely need to assume the loan on your own or refinance. You may need to offer some of the equity to your ex or make concessions to them in other areas of property division. For some people, keeping the house will mean overextending themselves.
You may need to explore whether you have an interest in keeping the specific property or you just want your fair share of its equity. Learning more about property division in Minnesota divorces can help you better handle your biggest assets at the end of your marriage.
