WHY CO-OWNING YOUR HOME AFTER A DIVORCE IS A BAD IDEA

In a divorce there are 3 options available to you and your spouse in regards to the marital home. You can either sell the home, one spouse buys out the other or you continue to co-own the home.

There are several good reasons to continue to co-own the home. 

1.     You might have children living in the home and you don’t want up root them.

2.     It is a bad market to sell

3.     You are underwater with the mortgage

4.     Neither of you can buy out the other

5.     You might want to keep the house for investment purposes

Co-owning the home can also have its bad reasons such as:

1.     You are both on the hook for paying the mortgage - If your ex fails to pay the mortgage (or pays it late), your credit rating will be effected.

 2.     It will involve interaction will your spouse

 3.     Is raises the question of who will pay the bills and maintenance on the home and what if your spouse can’t pay the mortgage?

4.     You can’t move on - co-owning a home might delay your ability to move forward and will probably create more problems than they solve.

 5.     It will impact your relationship with your spouse – if you have kids, you want to maintain some level of connection. Co-owning a home together will bring up all the issues that come with owning and maintaining the property. These are potential disputes waiting to happen.

 Divorce is already stressful, for your financial, emotional, and psychological well-being it is best to cut all ties of the marriage and move on with your new life. You want to build a financial life of your own, co-owning a home might delay your ability to move forward and will probably create more problems than solve them.