Not all marriage ends well no matter how hard couples prayed for it or work hard for it to last. The law recognized this as a reality and provided a provision for couples to basically declare their marriage null and void, also called as the divorce process. While divorce settles the relationship, allowing them to move on with their lives, there are issues outside divorce married couple also settles, such as their real estate properties – and most of the time they will have to settle this while facing the divorce process.
Marital property, in general, is owned by both parties. That’s why they need to be settled that both parties agree on the settlement. Cathy Meyer of Live About wrote an article about the tips for dividing marital properties during divorce.
3 Tips For Dividing Marital Property During Divorce
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The process of dividing marital property begins with taking an inventory of all you, as a couple , have acquired during the marriage. Anything you owned before the marriage and anything inherited during the marriage will not count as marital property.
Being fair, open and honest during this time is the best path to take. If you have money socked away in a personal account, that money should be considered the property of both spouses.
You may think you can get away with hiding marital assets but divorce attorneys are smart and one of the first things they will look for are assets that are tucked away out of sight. To keep from being penalized later on in the process, it is best to reveal all in the beginning of the process.
And of course, the best thing you can do for yourself is to negotiate your own settlement without the help of a mediator or the courts. I do advise couples to have their own separate attorneys. If for no other reason than to read over any agreement before being signed to make sure their client has not settled for less than is fair or equitable.
What to Do if You Can’t Come to an Agreement When Dividing Marital Assets
1. Hire a mediator to help work through any sticky issues that may arise during the division of marital property. Some states require mediation during the divorce process, some don’t. If you are able to come to an agreement you won’t be required to go to mediation.
If you can’t it is worth your time and the expense to hire a mediator to work through the process with you before the courts become involved.
2. Don’t fight over small stuff. That piece of art hanging over the bed may have emotional meaning to you; you may feel it should go to you and not her/him due to your attachment.
If you are unable to come to an agreement a judge is not going to care how emotionally attached you are to certain items. See full post here…
For couples, the very first thing they need to do is to have an inventory of all assets you have acquired as a couple. The most commonly acquired asset by couples is the house they are living in. Basically they don’t have to fight over small stuff, just focus on the bigger stuff like the home. The judge will then decide the property divided according to the state law’s, not according to what the couple wants.
The house is the most common asset couple usually split during a divorce, and there are smart ways to split the house during a divorce, and Aol.com gives us some awesome tips for couples splitting the house during a divorce. Read the article below to learn more.
4 Smart Ways to Split the House During a Divorce
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Tax implications of a home sale as well as lifestyle plans should be part of the decision-making process in a divorce.
Your home is likely the biggest asset you and your spouse own, so it’s critical to split it fairly during a divorce. No matter what you choose to do, you’ll likely face tax and financial consequences.
Here are four options that work for most people:
1. You buy out your spouse’s half of the house.
A buyout works only if you’ve got the cash on hand to fund it, or you can qualify for a new mortgage from today’s tightfisted mortgage lenders.
What you pay your spouse doesn’t have to be exactly half the value of your home. Maybe you’ll take a bigger portion of the savings and your spouse will get less than half the home price.
Don’t rely on an online estimate to value your home. Contact a real estate professional to get an accurate, up-to-date price opinion or pay an appraiser to value your home.
2. Sell it and split the profit now.
You can rid yourself of your spouse and your house if you sell and split the proceeds. You won’t owe federal tax on your post-divorce home sale profit if you meet these rules:
• Your profit it doesn’t exceed $250,000 (filing single).
• The home was your principal residence for two of the past five years.
• You haven’t used the home-sale profit exclusion in the past two years.
Good news: There are some loopholes in the “you have to live there for two years” rule. Read about them in IRS Publication 523 Selling Your Home.
Bad news: State real estate and divorce laws can also influence your capital gains taxes, particularly in community property states. Click here to read the rest of this post…
There are lots of important factors couples must take into consideration during a divorce such as tax implications. Couples must talk about it seriously before splitting the proceeds the moment the property is sold. Make sure to study tax implications first for it may affect the splitting of profit.
To avoid any complications and trust issues in splitting the actual home value, check out these tips written by Holden Lewis in Nerdwallet for it might help you with splitting your home’s value during divorce.
How to Split Home Value in a Divorce
Image Courtesy of NerWallet
When a couple get divorced, they have three basic options for what to do with the home they own. No matter which option they choose, the first step is determining the value of the house. The most reliable way is to get an appraisal — or better yet, two.
Even in an amicable divorce, it’s wise for each spouse to order an appraisal, says Mary Ballin, a certified financial planner and client advisor for Mosaic Financial Partners, in Walnut Creek, California. Getting two appraisals protects both sides, as it’s unlikely that two appraisals would be inaccurate in the same way, she says.
How is home equity divided in a divorce?
There are three main ways to handle the home:
Sell the house and split the proceeds.
One ex-spouse keeps the home and refinances the mortgage to remove the other from the loan.
Both former spouses keep the house temporarily.
Shawn Leamon, a certified divorce financial analyst and founder of the website Divorce and Your Money, advises weighing all the options. Here’s a closer look at the three basic ones:
Option 1: Sell the house and split the proceeds
The cleanest way to divide the home’s equity is to sell the house. Once the couple retire the mortgage debt, pay taxes and the sale-related expenses, they split the remaining money.
By selling the house, the two exes can more easily untangle from each other’s lives, Ballin says. Learn more here…
The best way to divide properties like a house is to sell the property and then split the proceeds equally or under agreed terms by the couples. The selling can be done during the divorce process, so couples must endure talking to each other and agree on terms to sell the house during divorce and move on with their lives later.
Divorce is a painful and grueling process couples must endure for them to start a new life without each other. However, aside from the relationship, they must also decide on how they will going to settle the properties they put up together. The best way to divide the property is to sell the house and divide the proceeds after deducting taxes and other fees. If you need some help with selling your house fast during a divorce, we at Dependable Homebuyers can help you sell your house fast, allowing the couple to focus on their divorce process. To learn more, visit https://www.dependablehomebuyers.com/blog/divorce-death-remarriage/
