For clients of family law attorneys
Divorce and the House: A Short Guide for Both of You
This is general information, not legal advice. Talk with your attorney.
Your attorney may have shared this page. It is written for both spouses and reads the same whichever of you is holding it.
What are the three choices for the house?
- Sell it. The sale pays off the loan at closing. The equity left is divided the way your agreement or court order says.
- One spouse buys out the other. The spouse keeping the house pays the other their share of the equity, usually with a new loan in one name. The first question is whether that spouse can qualify for the loan alone.
- Keep it for now. Both of you keep the house for a set time and sell later, with a written plan for who lives there and who pays what. Both stay on the loan, so a late payment shows on both credit reports.
Your attorneys write the plan you choose into your agreement or a court order.
What are the steps?
- Talk with your attorney about the plan and your rights.
- Gather the house records: deed, latest loan statement, any home equity line, tax bill and insurance.
- Get one price both of you can see.
- Check the loan first if one of you wants to keep the house.
- Put the plan in writing. Once a case is filed, a sale needs both spouses' written consent or a court order. When both of you are on title, both of you sign the listing, each offer and the escrow papers.
- Close. Escrow pays off the loan and costs of sale, then pays out or holds the rest as your signed instructions or court order direct.
How long does it take?
There is no single answer. These set the pace:
- Agreement. A sale moves once both of you agree in writing or a judge orders it.
- The house and the market. A home that needs little work lists sooner. How long an offer takes depends on price, condition and that month's market.
- Escrow. Its length is a term of the purchase contract.
- A buyout loan. Fannie Mae's buyout rule looks for at least 12 months of joint ownership, and support income usually needs six months of payment history to count.
Under California Family Code section 2339, marital status can't end sooner than six months after the respondent is served or first appears. The house does not have to wait for that date.
How is a fair price set so both of you trust it?
The price sets the list price in a sale and the buyout figure if one of you keeps the house. So the way it is reached matters as much as the number.
- One shared report. It is a walk-through and a written report from recent closed sales of similar homes nearby, sent to both spouses at once, and to both attorneys if they ask. Every comparable sale is listed, so anyone can check it.
- One agreed appraisal when the number has to hold up. Some attorneys pick one licensed appraiser together and share the cost.
- The lender's appraisal in a buyout. It controls how large the new loan can be.
Before the walk-through, Maggie or one of our agents shows a range from comparable sales. After it, both of you get one recommended price and the reasons, in writing.
Why have the house and the loan in one place?
Maggie B. Hopkins, broker-owner of Surroundings, is a real estate broker and a mortgage broker. She is not an attorney, and she does not take a side. Your attorney handles your rights in the case. Maggie handles the house and the loan.
- Qualifying alone. Two incomes may have qualified for the old loan. The new one has to work on one. Alimony and child support can count as income in many loan programs, with a court order or written agreement and enough payment history.
- The buyout loan. A new loan in one name pays off the old loan and funds the other spouse's share. Maggie can shop it across a network of approved lenders, and either spouse may use any lender.
- Getting off the loan. A quitclaim deed or divorce decree does not remove anyone from the mortgage, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains. A refinance into one name or a sale does.
Maggie has guided more than 10 clients through selling or keeping a home during a divorce. Her approach is calm and steady: the same information goes to both owners at the same time, in writing.
Questions about the house?
We help with the house and the loan, and we work alongside your attorney.
One next step
Text or call Maggie B. Hopkins with your house or loan questions. Either spouse is welcome, and so is either attorney. There is no obligation.
Maggie B. Hopkins is the broker-owner of Surroundings. She is a real estate broker and mortgage broker, licensed in real estate since 2006 and owner of Surroundings since 2023. Licenses: CA DRE Broker Lic #01750680 · NMLS #349517. Surroundings · DRE #02220140 · NMLS #2528307.
All loans are subject to credit approval and underwriting. This page is not a commitment to lend.
This is general information, not legal advice. Talk with your attorney.