Divorce can be an excruciating process that requires you to keep tabs of several legal aspects. That can include how shared properties will be divided among the former spouses - including the home you’ve probably been living in together. 

If you’re trying to decide whether to sell your home before or after the divorce, you’ll find information in this article to help you make an informed decision.

Tax Implications of Selling Your Home During a Divorce

The largest tax-related aspect to look out for when selling a home is capital gains tax. Luckily, if you’ve lived in your home for two of the past five years and you decide to sell your home as a couple, you may qualify for an exclusion of $250,000 per person or $500,000 per couple.

Sharing Equity

Should one spouse choose to keep the home, the spouse taking the home with equity will be required to give up something equitable to maintain an equal net share of assets you owned as a couple. But if you sell your home upfront, you’ll have a specific amount of money to divide evenly during the divorce.

What Happens If One Partner Refuses to Sell the House?

In the event that you can not agree on whether you should sell your home during the divorce or not, the process could become challenging. That’s because you need both your signature and your partner’s to sell a home. Failure to get these could result in mediation, and if an agreement is reached, you could apply for a consent order and sell your home. But if mediation doesn’t work, you might have to go to court, which could, in some instances, intervene and force the sale. 

Should You Sell Your Home Before or After the Divorce?

While some things can easily be divided between you and your ex-spouse, you can’t split a home. As such, selling your home is an excellent solution to the problem and you can easily split the total selling amount between you. For more details on whether to sell your home before or after the divorce, feel free to reach out to us today for more guidance!