Selling The Marital Home After Divorce Is As Unpleasant As It Sounds

Listing your house for sale and preparing to move out is stressful no matter the circumstances, even if you are doing it so that you can move on to a happy new chapter of your life, such as a spacious house where each of your children can have his or her own bedroom, or a move that brings you closer to your family of origin.  If your motivation for selling your house is something less life-changing, such as that you think selling your house would be financially advantageous because it is a seller’s market these days, you will likely procrastinate until the opportunity has passed.  Another task so unpleasant that almost everyone procrastinates it is interacting with your ex-spouse, especially when it comes to tying up loose ends financially.  You and your ex can agree to almost anything you choose in your marital settlement agreement, and the divorce court will sign off on it, but when you agree to sell the marital home in the distant future, it is a recipe for trouble.  If you are struggling to disentangle yourself from the loose ends left by your marital settlement agreement, contact a Birmingham divorce lawyer.

Beware of Marital Settlement Agreements That Leave Room for Procrastination

Homeownership is one of the surest markers of financial stability, but it is also financially burdensome, even for happily married couples.  There is no one size fits all solution about what to do with the marital home in a divorce, but at least one spouse should make a clean break with the marital home.  In some families, the spouse who will reside with the children on school days keeps the marital home, but she must refinance the mortgage in her own name and pay her ex-spouse an equalizing payment.  This often involves asking a family member to co-sign with you on the refinance.

Equally often, neither spouse can afford to keep the marital home, even if getting a refinance is theoretically possible.  In that case, the parties sell the marital home.  If you go this route, you should list your house for sale immediately.  Your lawyer might need to triangulate between you, your ex, and any real estate agents involved in the process.  It is exhausting, but procrastinating the sale until after the divorce is even worse.  An Alabama couple spent years in court after their marital settlement agreement said that the wife could stay in the marital home for 30 months after the divorce became final, but the husband would be responsible for repairs.  As you can probably guess, the wife wanted to stay longer, at least until the couple’s youngest child graduated from high school, and the husband dragged his feet about the repairs.

Contact Peeples Law About Divorce With Lingering entanglements

A Birmingham family law attorney can help you if you put your marital settlement agreement together hastily and are now stuck tying up loose ends.  Contact Peeples Law today to schedule a consultation.

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scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6837763528396426316&q=divorce+market&hl=en&as_sdt=4,61,62,64&as_ylo=2014&as_yhi=2024