If you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse own a home together, you’re probably concerned about what will happen to your home in the asset division process. Unfortunately, there is no set answer to this question; it all depends on your unique circumstances.
For example, if you and your spouse are living with your children and raising them together, the primary caretaker of the children will have the right to stay in the home with the children — provided that appropriate financial arrangements can be made. Those arrangements could involve one spouse paying the spouse who stays in the home child support that is sufficient to help pay for the continued maintenance of the residence.
However, if one of the spouses bought and paid for the residence with separate funds and the spouses don’t share children with one another, then the spouse who paid for the home will be able to keep it in most cases. If the spouses lived in the home and were married while one or both spouses paid the mortgage, then the spouses will each have a right to some of the equity value they hold in the residence.
In most cases of shared home ownership, one spouse cannot ask the other spouse to leave. If there is a disagreement about who will keep the home, then the court will do its best to reach a fair decision on how to divide the value of the property between the spouses.
Since every case of divvying up the family home is different, you may want to discuss the unique aspects of your situation with a qualified family law attorney in the Orlando area before moving forward with your divorce.
