If you and your spouse are getting a divorce and are currently homeowners, you may be wondering what you should do with the marital home. Chances are that one spouse will move out of the home during the divorce process in an act of separation. Even though the one spouse has moved out, in most cases, both spouses are still considered responsible for paying the mortgage and utilities on the home until the divorce is final.

Do you want to keep the marital home? If you would like to keep the house for yourself, or plan to have custody of the children and want them to remain in their home because it adds to the stability, then you will want to contact a local family lawyer for more information. You may need to negotiate with your spouse and answer several questions before you determine whether or not you can keep the home. First of all, it is important to determine whether or not you want to keep the home, and to get the home appraised. In many divorces, the couple will sell their marital home and split the profit so that each party gets an equitable slice of the home.

If you want to keep the home, then you will need to determine whether or not you will be able to afford the mortgage payments, utilities, maintenance and other costs on your single income. if you determine that you can afford to maintain the home on your own, then the lawyers will have to see whether or not you and your spouse have the marital assets available so that you can buyout your spouse for the home. This means that your spouse will probably get a larger bulk of the assets tied up in the marital estate so that you can keep possession of the property.

You will also want to get the house appraised. The valuation date that you get your house appraised is essential. At the time that the house is evaluated, the number and date will be written in the divorce papers. If the value of the house goes up after the valuation date, the spouse living in the house may be able to absorb the additional profit. This would make the dividend in a sell and divide situation uneven. This is especially true if the value of the home went up because of improvements and repairs to the home that were made by the spouse living there.

If you determine that you can afford to keep the house and there are assets that can still allot a fair division to your spouse, then you will want to have the house appraised and agree on a value with your spouse. This can often be difficult because you and your spouse will both be seeking opposite goals in the value. The paying spouse will want the value as low as possible, while the receiving spouse will be hoping for a high payment.

If you and your spouse cannot agree on a price for the home, then you can both do comparative analysis. You can do this separately or jointly. If you and your spouse still don't agree on a value, then it is best to go through another appraisal, either jointly or individually. If this does not facilitate an agreement, then you and your spouse may have to go to court over the issue. This can typically drag the divorce process out. If you decide to go to trial over the house issue, you will need a local family lawyer there to help you. Contact a lawyer at the firm today for more information!