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Property division and dealing with the marital home

On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Property Division on Friday, August 12, 2016.

Illinois couples who choose to get divorced will need to decide what to do about their marital home. Sometimes, people will wrestle with whether or not they should stay in the house. Before making the decision, they should think about several things.

When people are divorced, they must learn to live on their incomes alone rather than having the help from their spouses to which they have been accustomed. This means that a person may have significantly less money with which to work after he or she divorces. Even if a house is owned outright, it still may not be wise to stay in it if the person can’t afford the utilities, property taxes and maintenance costs.

Another consideration is when a house has a mortgage in both spouses’ names. In that situation, a person who will remain in the home will likely be required to refinance the home in his or her own name so that the former spouse’s credit will not be tied up with the mortgage. This may be difficult for some people to do. A person who does stay will likely be required to buy out the other party’s equity in the home in the property settlement.

Property division may be difficult when a couple has been married for a long time. A couple’s finances often become very intertwined over the years, and untangling them may be very difficult. Determining how the property should be divided may also be an issue when there are multiple types of assets. People may have retirement accounts, real estate holdings, businesses, bank accounts and many other types of property in their marital estates. Some ways to divide property may have more tax advantages than others, and a family law attorney can provide advice on these matters.

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