Who Gets the Family Home in a Divorce?
Many married couples purchase a home together and build their family’s life in that home. If you are getting divorced, it is only natural to wonder what will happen to your house. Will you get to remain in the home? Will you have to sell it? These are important questions to discuss with your divorce lawyer in Roseville.
Your Home as Community Property
California is a community property state, which means that all property and assets that spouses acquire is considered to be community property. This is property that needs to be divided in a divorce. Even if the home is only in one person’s name, it will be community property if you purchased it during your marriage. If one spouse owned the home prior to marriage, and the other spouse contributed to the home financially, at least some of the interest in the home will be community property.
Community property should be distributed between divorcing spouses as equally as possible. Since it is impossible to cut a house in half, divorcing spouses often have the following options:
- Sell the house and divide the proceeds equally
- One spouse stays in the home and takes over ownership, while the other spouse gets a larger distribution of other community property to make up for the home
- One spouse takes over ownership and buys out the other’s interests
If you cannot decide who should get the house, the court might order you to sell it and divide the proceeds.
Discuss Your Options with a Divorce Lawyer in Roseville
At Khatami Law, we handle every aspect of our clients’ divorce cases, including community property division. If you are facing a divorce case, do not hesitate to seek help from a Roseville divorce attorney. Call 916.584.9610 or contact us online for an appointment today.