To Stay or To Go - Divorce and the Family Home

When considering a divorce and the family home, take your time to evaluate your options. Don’t base your decision on emotions!

When facing a divorce, it’s common for any number of reasons, for one spouse to express a desire to stay in the family home. The spouse may want to minimize disruption in the lives of the children. Or they may simply want the comfort of familiar surroundings as they face dramatic life-altering changes. Under these circumstances, many profound emotional forces can be at play.

As Cathy DeWitt Dunn writes, it is best to set emotions aside and ask yourself, does it make financial sense to retain the family home? Before making your decision, make an effort to undertake a realistic assessment of your situation. You can start by considering these four factors:

• Market conditions and Current Home Value
• Mortgage Qualification
• Costs of Other Options
• Buyouts

The emotions and details surrounding the decision to retain or sell the family dwelling can be overwhelming. So it’s important to put aside emotions as much as possible and direct your energies into making a realistic assessment of your circumstances.