One of the biggest assets that is acquired during a marriage is the marital home. The marital home if purchased by the parties during the marriage is subject to equitable distribution. What this means is that the equity in the marital home will have to be divided by the parties. By way of example, if the marital home is worth $400,000.00 and there is a $200,000.00 outstanding mortgage, the parties to the divorce would need to figure out how to share in the remaining $200,000.00 in equity. Often times the equity in the home is divided evenly between the parties.
However, it does not always work out that way. For instance, if one of the parties owned the marital home before the marriage it may not be subject to equitable distribution at all. If one of the parties put all of the deposit monies down on the purchase of the home and the marriage did not last very long, it is quite conceivable that the party who put all of the money down will receive a disproportionate share of the equity in the home.
Another factor to take into consideration when you may be contemplating buying out the other spouse’s interest in the marital home is the cost of maintaining the marital home on a post-finalization of the divorce basis. The main reason why one spouse would want to maintain the marital home is for the sake of the children. The feeling is that the divorce process itself is somewhat disruptive and to uproot the children as a result of divorce may not be in their best interests. The desire to adversely affect the children must be weighed against the financial ability to actually afford to maintain the house on a post-finalization of divorce basis.
The experienced divorce lawyers at the Villani and DeLuca law firm can help you analyze all of the relevant factors so that you can make an informed decision as to whether or not maintaining the marital house on a post-finalization the divorce is in your best interest. The New Jersey divorce lawyers at the firm all offer a free initial divorce consultation. Please call today so that you can obtain the information you need to make an informed decision as to what to do.
