Who gets the House in a Divorce?
June 2023
Worrying about who will get the house in a divorce is a natural concern when you are thinking about separation. We recommend that you speak to a family law solicitor to discuss your circumstances, divorce and what may happen during any financial settlement.
We provide specialist family law advice, giving you the information, you need to help you achieve the best divorce financial settlement for you and your family.
Initial Discussion
For an initial discussion and a no-obligation quote, get in touch with us today by simply calling us on 01234 343134 or email us at enquiries@fullersfamilylaw.com and a member of our team will get back to you.
Housing Options
When you separate or divorce, there is normally more than one housing option, such as:
- Sell the family home and split the net equity in a percentage to be agreed. It could be an equal split, or you or your ex-spouse could keep all the equity, or a range of options in between. It all depends on your needs and circumstances.
- Transfer the jointly owned family home to you or to your ex-spouse, in exchange for a payment representing the other’s share in the net equity.
- Keep the family home in joint names with one of you living in the property but you agree that the house should be sold on a trigger event (such as your youngest child reaching the age of 18) and agree now on how the equity should be split when the property is eventually sold in the future.
Each of these housing options has advantages and disadvantages. That is why it is best to gather all the information you need to decide on whether it is best for you to keep the family home or not.
If you cannot reach an agreement over whether you should keep the family home, then there are lots of different methods to find a solution. You could try family mediation, you could ask your solicitor to negotiate a settlement or, if a reasonable agreement cannot be reached in a timely way your solicitor can apply to the court on your behalf and ask a judge to decide what should happen to the family home and other assets such as pensions, investments or the family business.
Questions to ask When Deciding who gets the House in a Divorce
When you separate it is often the case that you want the comfort of the familiar and you don’t want to leave the family home. That is an understandable reaction but who gets the house in a divorce can be a complicated question, involving trade-offs. For example, if you get to keep the house, will your husband or wife get to keep all the pensions or investments or the family business? If, for example, you do not get a pension sharing order, because you are keeping the house, does that mean the house will need to be sold in a few years because you will not be able to afford to keep it when you retire?
Of course where there are children under 18, their welfare will need to be given first consideration.
It is important that your family law solicitor works with you to gather the right information and answers all your questions, so you make the right long-term decisions over your future, including whether you keep the house.
Questions include:
- How much is the house worth? What is the outstanding mortgage? Is there a mortgage redemption penalty? How much equity is there in the house?
- Can you afford to take over the mortgage on the family home? Will the mortgage company agree to the release of your husband or wife from the mortgage so they can buy a new property? Can you increase your earnings so the mortgage company will agree to transfer the mortgage into your name?
- If you were to sell up, how much do you need to buy a new house? What sort of mortgage could you get and would the monthly mortgage payments be affordable from your salary? Would you get spousal maintenance or child support to help you pay your bills?
- How much are all the family assets worth, such as pensions or the family business or investments? Until you know the extent of the assets and obtain an accurate value, you cannot say whether it is a fair financial settlement for you to keep the house if your husband or wife walks away with the other assets.
All these questions and others need to be answered. You then need a bit of space to help you reflect and work out the best overall option for you, taking into account your other priorities.
The team at Fullers can help you explore your housing options and work with you on your divorce financial settlement to help you keep the house after your divorce.
How Can Fullers Help?
We understand that finding a solicitor that you feel understands your own specific situation can be a daunting task. So, you can book a free call back with us here.
We have also created a series of fixed-price consultation meetings with a full ‘no questions asked’ money-back guarantee promise.
For an initial discussion and a no-obligation quote, get in touch with us today by simply calling us on 01234 343134, filling in the contact form below, or emailing us at enquiries@fullersfamilylaw.com and a member of our team will get back to you.
This summary provides general information and does not constitute legal advice on any individual circumstances.
