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House: Appraise, Sell, or Keep after divorce


When you go through a divorce, one of the things you might have to worry about would be how you divide your property. Your house would be one of those things. Now, if the house you’re both staying in was bought before you were married, chances are it’s under the name of whoever bought it. That won’t pose much of a problem. But if the ownership of the house is shared, then that’s where things might get a little tougher to sort out. This is especially true if you’re dividing the property amongst yourselves. If you’re looking for ways to go about it, read on.

Sell the House

If you both decide to sell the house and split the proceeds as part of your divorce settlement but have no idea how much the house is worth, putting the house up for sale would be the best way to know how much it’s worth. Once you find out how much the house is worth, you can then split the proceeds from the sale and take the share you both agreed upon.

Have It Appraised

When you decide to sell the house but are having trouble finding out how much it’s worth, one option you two have would be to go to a licensed appraiser. An appraiser would know how to help price your home better as they’ve established a system to help price your house and give it the appropriate value based on all the data that they’ve collected over time. At least this way, you know that you’re really getting your money’s worth as there is data to back the pricing. Plus, a licensed appraiser’s appraisal would almost always be favored by the court when settlements are being done.

Keep It and Offer Other Properties

If one of you wants to keep the house and can afford to pay for it, another option would be to give your spouse their share of the value of the house. It’s basically just buying them out. If you can’t exactly buy them out, another option would be to offer other assets to help give them what’s due them. You can give them some of your other owned possessions or properties are also a share of things such as your pension.

Now, whatever you and your spouse decide to do with your house is really between you two. The best way to help figure things out without any hitches would be to just discuss it with them and iron things out in such a way that you both get what’s due you. What matters most is that you two agree upon it.

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Mr. Hutton is a Divorce and Custody Lawyer based out of Round Rock, TX. His background is with child psychology at Arizona State University where he received a B.S. in 2006, and he continued this by working with the Children’s Right’s Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law where he received his J.D. in 2009. Throughout his practice, he has been a strong proponent of utilizing modern technology to improve his practice and the representation of his clients. He currently is the technology chair of CAFA of Travis County and is committed to improving and modernizing the practice of law in Texas. If you have any questions you can contact him at timothy.hutton@austintexaslegal.com

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