Many people want to keep their house after a divorce for any number of reasons. Perhaps it will give them more stability. Maybe they bought a dream home that they don’t want to lose. Perhaps the children want to keep living in the home.
There are a lot of reasons to keep the house – especially if you have primary custody of your children. However, it’s also important to think of it from the other perspective. What are some reasons why you may not want to keep it?
It can make it harder to move on
Staying in the same home can make it harder to move on from the marriage. You may feel like you really can’t embrace this new stage in your life if you’re living in the house you shared with your spouse.
It can be very expensive
You also have to remember that divorce often means the loss of one income. However, you would still have to pay the mortgage, property taxes, home insurance and the costs for maintenance and upkeep. Keeping the home can be too expensive for your post-divorce budget.
You may need a new mortgage
Speaking of the mortgage, keeping your home may also need that you need to refinance. Odds are that you and your spouse applied for the original mortgage together, but you’ll likely want one in your own name if you keep the home after divorce. There are rare cases where divorced couples will keep both names on the mortgage, but it’s probably not something your spouse will agree to – or that you want them to do.
This isn’t to say that you definitely shouldn’t keep the house. However, you want to give it considerable thought and weigh the pros and cons. As your divorce gets closer, consider all of your options for dealing with your home.