Conflict over family home can complicate property division

Posted in Property Division on March 15, 2019

Ending a marriage in California can easily present financial challenges, particularly when high-value assets — like a house — are involved. For instance, two divorcing spouses who are tackling property division may not agree on what to do with their house, which is often a couple’s biggest shared asset. Here is a glimpse at two courses of action they can take with the house.

First, one spouse may choose to stay in the house due to his or her emotional connection to the home. Also, this person may plan to pursue physical custody of the children and thus may wish to remain at the home to avoid uprooting the children. In this case, buying out the other individual may be in his or her best interest.   

Another avenue the couple could take is selling the marital home so that both parties are no longer tied to it. This is ideal if both parties would prefer not to be reminded of the marriage by remaining in the home. With the selling option, though, it is expedient for the divorcing couple to pick a realtor who has worked with divorcing spouses before, as this professional needs to be able to handle conflict between the two parties. The best agents in this situation are those who can remain neutral, focusing on providing sage advice to each party, depending on his or her individual situation.

During a divorce proceeding involving a family house, it is best if the two parties can agree on how to divide this asset outside of court. Otherwise, they will have to depend on a judge to make this determination for them, and the judge’s decision may not necessarily be in line with one or both parties’ wishes. An attorney can help a person who is going through the divorce process to pursue the most personally favorable property division outcome possible in California.

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