Selling a Home

If the house is jointly owned, you will negotiate in mediation how the net proceeds will be divided. Net proceeds are determined by deducting mortgage loans, broker’s fee, costs of sale and taxes, and any other items you have agreed to deduct in the separation agreement, from the total (gross) proceeds.

If the house is owned by only one of you, you must consider the following in negotiating about whether to share the proceeds:

• When did you buy the house? Before or after the marriage?
• How did you finance its upkeep and improvements?
• Did your spouse do work on the house?
• Were any expenses paid out of marital funds?
• What would be fair?

Whether you live in a community property state or in an equitable distribution state, you can negotiate to divide the net proceeds in any way you wish. It’s also possible that you may want to trade part or all of the net proceeds for the amount in your pension account, or for another asset or stream of income.

If you let the court decide in a community property state, and your home was purchased during the marriage, the net proceeds would be divided equally. In an equitable distribution state, the net proceeds would be divided by the court according to your individual monetary and nonmonetary contributions to the marriage.