Where am I going to live during and after the divorce?

One of the more fundamental aspects of day-to-day life that's impacted by divorce, is where you and your spouse will live, both during and after the divorce. Ideally, you can figure out where you'll live after the divorce early on in the process, and use that decision to guide you earlier on. 

If you own your home, there are really only two options - one of you keeps the home, or you sell it. If neither party wants to and can afford to keep the home, the decision is simply - it's sold, and the proceeds are divided with the rest of the marital assets. If one party wants to stay and can afford to do so, it's again very simple - that person stays, and the other person is compensated for their equity by other assets (usually retirement accounts) or by cash payment upon refinancing. But it's important to remember that being able to "afford" to stay in the home means not just making mortgage and utility payments, but also the costs of maintaining the home, the credit to refinance the home to remove the other person's name from the mortgage, and the means to compensate the other party for their portion of the equity in the home. 

The problems arise when both parties wish to and are able to afford staying in the home. If the parties can't reach an agreement, the decision is left to the judge. The judge considers the marital home in the larger context of the divorce, along with everything else, and there are no hard-and-fast rules about what he or she must do. But in most cases, the primary custodian of the children will be allowed to stay in the marital home in those situations. If there are no minor children, it's harder to predict who will keep the home. 

If you decide that one party is keeping the home after the divorce, the next question is when do people move? If you can, it saves money to continue living together during the divorce. If that's not a tolerable situation - which it often isn't - the parties can either agree, or take the matter to the court. If taken to court, the judge will typically order one party to leave the home within a specified period of time (often 30 days). 

If you need to know what's likely to happen in your own situation, call The Lilly Law Firm, LLC at (678) 807-9150.