How Can I Keep My House In My Divorce Case?

I get asked “How can I keep my house in my divorce case” a lot. You will need to refinance the mortgage and remove the other party from the liability in order to keep your house. You can’t keep the home and also keep the other person responsible on the mortgage. The first thing to ask yourself is do you have the financial ability to refinance the mortgage and remove the other person from liability on the loan.

The second thing you have to ask yourself is whether or not there is any equity in the home.

If there is any equity in the home how are you going to be able to divide up that equity. If you owned the home prior to the marriage you’re going to need to get an appraisal. The appraisal will include what the home was worth at the date of marriage and what the home is worth today. The increase in value if you owned the home prior to the marriage is marital and subject to division. The big issue is can you qualify to refinance the home? Can you figure out a way that you can cash out the other person of their interest in the home?

Those are the biggest stumbling blocks to keeping the home. People often confuse the deed to the home (the title) to the mortgage for the home. There is a warranty deed or quitclaim deed that has title to the home. There is also the loan that you have with the home for example with Wells Fargo or US bank whoever your lender is. Those are two separate things, you can sign a quitclaim deed transferring title to the home but that doesn’t do anything with the mortgage that you have for the home. If you have any questions, call to schedule a consultation today at (303) 329-3802 and we can talk about strategies that can ensure that you’re able to keep the home as part of your divorce process.

Read more information about how the court divides property in a divorce.
If you are uncertain about your present relationship, read more about divorce coaching and pre-planning.