What Happens To The Mortgage When Going Through a Divorce?

What happens to the mortgage when going through a divorce? While deciding to sell your home during a divorce can be an incredibly hard decision, the next consideration is your finances. One of the most commonly asked questions we receive here at The Luxer Team is what happens to the mortgage when selling a home during a divorce. Today we’re going to share everything you need to know to prepare yourself for this situation and ensure you set yourself up for a secure future.

Refinancing

If one of you decides to keep the house, then one option is for you to refinance the home. One of you can refinance the home into your own name, and that means the responsibility of this debt solely falls to the person on the contract. This is a good option for anyone with the means to buy the other partner out, but it’s not always a feasible solution during a divorce. You’ll also need to have a high enough income to fund the house payments, which is the biggest challenge for many individuals as they originally purchased the home based on two incomes.

Selling the Home

As divorce real estate experts, the majority of the couples we speak to opt to sell their home. Selling your home is generally your best option and allows you both to start your life again independently. If you are able to get a good price for your home, then you can split the proceeds of the sale between the two of you as part of the settlement you put together with your divorce attorney. Of course, from there, you’ll need to find a new place to live on your own and work out your options as far as getting a new mortgage. This is generally the best solution to protect you both from financial ruin as if you both stay on the mortgage and one of you doesn’t make the payments, you can both end up with a terrible credit score.

When you sell your home together during divorce, the proceeds from your sale are used to then pay off your mortgage. Therefore, for most couples today, this is the best way to end their mortgage contract and be taken off an agreement that has both of your names on it. You won’t have to live in fear of the other person wrecking your credit score if they are careless with future payments.

Before working with a divorce agent to sell your home, we understand one of you may move out of the family home temporarily. When this is the case, we encourage you to always communicate about mortgage payments to ensure they are not missed. This can be a huge issue, and while you may think missing a payment or two may not be a problem, it can ruin the chance of you getting your own property in the future.

For more information about what happens to the mortgage when going through a divorce or selling your home during divorce along with how your mortgage payments will work, we always recommend using a divorce Realtor. Here at The Luxer Team, we will be happy to answer any questions you may have and help you to enjoy a quick and stress-free sale of your home.