Years together with your spouse seemed like a great investment. Not only on the personal level, but also on the asset level. The property, including real estate, that you accumulated turned into a portfolio that you could not accomplish on your own.

However, the cracks in your marriage led to the slow rise of dissent, disagreement and relationship dysfunction and disaster. Divorce creeped in, and now you understand that you must protect yourself, especially on the asset division front. Issues pertaining to real estate are among the biggest to scrutinize. What will happen to your home? Investment properties? And real estate investments that you may not know about?

Sell or buy the house?

Sadly, or with some relief, you understand that your relationship has splintered. It is up to you to tackle and address the many issues that come with divorce. And that includes the real estate accumulated during your marriage. Here are some of the real estate issues to address:

• Selling the house: Selling the house outright is a decision to consider since both your names may be on the deed. Perhaps you have created too many memories at this house, and you wish to make a clean break.
• Buying out your former spouse’s share of the house: Parents with children, sometimes, choose this route in order to continue to raise their children in the family home. However, if you decide to purchase your former spouse’s share, you must determine whether it is financially feasible. Can you afford the mortgage payments, taxes and home-related costs such as repairs?
• What to do with additional real estate properties: This list could include condominiums, town houses, seasonal properties, investment properties, farms and plots of land. If they have been accumulated during the marriage, they are considered marital property and subject to equal division.
• Uncovering hidden assets, including real estate: Some spouses hide assets from each other. Real estate may be part of the hidden assets. Tax records may include information that lead you to discover hidden investment and rental properties.

When you go through a divorce, you must make an inventory of so many matters on the personal and financial front. And many are related to real estate. Decisions must be made to help you carry on with your life. And those decisions may include whether to stay in the home or sell it.

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