DIVIDING REAL PROPERTY

You and your spouse must decide how to divide your real property. You should consider:

• Are there children in the marriage who reside in the real property (home)?
• Do you and your spouse have equity in the real property? (Equity is the difference between the value of a property and the unpaid loan balance.)

Here are some ways you can divide real property.

• You can ask the court to award the property to you. If you choose this, you should propose a way for you to "buy out" your spouse. This means you will pay your spouse for his/her share of the equity in the property. The best arrangement is usually that the spouse who receives the property receives all of the equity and the other spouse receives something else of equal value, such as a pension plan. A spouse may also buy out the other spouse by agreeing to pay what is called an equitable lien.
• You can ask the court to award the property to your spouse. If you choose this, you should propose a way for your spouse to "buy you out." This means your spouse will pay you for your equity in the property.
• You can sell the home now, pay off marital debts and divide any remaining equity.
• You can sell the home at a later date and divide the equity then.
• If you have children, you or your spouse may live in the property until one of these standard conditions occurs:
  • your youngest child turns 18, marries or becomes emancipated, or
  • the person residing in the home remarries, ceases to use the home as a primary residence or cohabits with another person.
  When one of these standard conditions occurs, the equity existing at the time of the divorce will be divided.
• You can define your own terms for deciding how this property will be handled.