Real Estate and Property in Divorces

One of the major issues that continuously comes up during many divorces is what happens to the real estate. Real estate can include several things including the marital home, land, investment properties, and other properties jointly and separately owned by spouses or by an entity in which a spouse has an interest.

Under Florida divorce law, all marital property is subject to equitable distribution irrespective of title. Often, the court will divide all marital property and assets 50/50. Personal property is the easiest to distribute in the event of a divorce. This includes things such as clothes, cars, furniture, and items that are not technically real estate property or intangible property. Intangible property is any nonphysical asset such as intellectual property. If you or your spouse have intangible property that must be valued in your divorce, an expert may need to be consulted to ensure the property is valued correctly.

Property that cannot be physically divided may be sold or partitioned and the money made from it distributed. Divorces that include a family, marital home often have sentimental value that many take into consideration if one party should retain the property and when considering the children’s best interests.

Yaffa Family Law Group wants to help guide you through the process of what happens with real estate as to your divorce.

If you and your spouse own a marital home, you may be asking “who gets the house in a divorce?” Well, a residential home is one of the biggest assets that people generally own. The value of a home can amount to upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars, or more. Deciding what happens to it is a challenge. Since a home cannot be physically split into two the court can order that the property be sold and distribute the proceeds or give 100% ownership to one of the spouses and in turn, the other spouse obtains some other asset for his or her share. What the court decides to do depends totally on each individual situation.

For example, let’s say a couple bought a house with marital funds. This means the house belongs to both spouses equally. If the spouses are unable to agree on who gets to live in the house, a court may permit one spouse to keep the property or force a sale of the house and divide the proceeds. If one spouse decides to buy out the other, a fair price will be determined at the current market value.

There are other factors that come into play as well. Factors to consider in the equitable distribution of the marital home include:

• The best interest of the minor children living in the home;
• Which parent the children primarily lives;
• The ages of the parties;
• Economic factors for each spouse.

You may now be asking “will I be forced to sell my home?” One of the reasons it’s better to decide this with your spouse rather than have a divorce court do so is because the judge can force you to sell your home. The court can sell the home making it easier to divide assets as well if one party requests a sale in their divorce. Therefore, it’s best to discuss this and your options with a divorce attorney. This allows it to be a more personal and less sterile seeming matter.

If you and your spouse have decided to sell the home, how the money is split is up to you. In most cases, a fair 50/50 split can happen. This distribution can change to make sure it’s fair for both parties so that at the end of the day, each spouse walks away with 50% of the total value of the assets. It’s like a balance sheet. A divorce attorney will assist you in deciding what to prepare after understanding the situations and facts on a personal and case by case basis.

Going through a divorce is never easy, regardless of the situation. Many unexpected things need to be taken care of and can come up unexpectedly. That is why it is essential to prepare and speak to professionals. Real estate during your divorce is potentially one of the biggest issues that needs to be dealt with during the process. If you need help handling this, our team of compassionate, sharp lawyers at Yaffa Family Law group are here to help. Our team of divorce attorneys will help get you what you deserve and discover your fresh start. If you need help or you have any questions, reach out for a free consultation. There are always options, so it is important to discover yours.