When you are undergoing your divorce proceedings, you may be worried about the fate of your assets. Most of all, you may be worried about what is going to happen to your family home. With this, some couples find it best to get ahead of the situation and sell their house before their proceedings commence. Read on to discover whether you can sell your house before your divorce and how one of the seasoned New Jersey equitable distribution attorneys at Haber Silver Russoniello & Dunn can help you explore your options.
How does the court decide who gets the house in a divorce?
The New Jersey family court will refer to the equitable distribution law when deciding who gets the house in your divorce. Specifically, equitable distribution law states that all marital property will be divided among a couple in a way that is fair and just. And if you and your spouse bought your house together after you got married, then this will likely be considered marital property and up for grabs. So, the court will determine how to divide your house by looking at the following factors:
- Your and your spouse’s earning capacities.
- Your and your spouse’s financial and non-financial contributions to the house.
- The current market value of your house.
- The estimated cost of maintaining your house.
- The property taxes of your house.
- The settled alimony agreement.
- The settled child custody agreement.
Is it possible to sell my house before my divorce?
Before you enter your divorce proceedings, you and your spouse may want to consider selling your house. With this, you will be able to split the profits evenly and use it to buy new property. Ideally, these new properties will be near one another and still within your child’s school district, so that their life can remain as normal as possible. And hopefully, these new properties will allow you to have the fresh start that you need after your divorce is finalized.
However, if you want to keep your house for your child’s sake, there are other options at your disposal. For one, you can continue to co-own the house. With this, the non-custodial spouse will likely have to move out. Or, one spouse can buy out the other. Though, it may pose as difficult to keep up with the cost of maintaining the house and its associated taxes independently.
Regardless of what path you choose, you and your spouse will be able to take control over what happens to your house, as opposed to leaving it to the hands of the court. For more information on these options, you should consult with one of the competent attorneys from our Morris County divorce and separation law firm. Call us today.
