One of the most challenging aspects of divorce in Maryland is valuing and then dividing the communal property. Making an equitable division can take time, and it also costs money to find out what assets the couple has, determine which of them are marital and decide how to split them up. For many couples, the house will be their single most valuable asset, which means its role in property division plays a huge role in the course of the divorce.
Divorce and housing
Maryland is an equitable distribution state, which means that the communal assets do not need to be divided exactly 50/50. Managing the common house can be quite tricky. If there are large assets or multiple houses, it becomes easier to set up a roughly even split, but with just one house and ordinary assets, things get more complicated. One person can buy out the other and pay them for half of the house. The couple could sell the house and split the profits. Alternatively, they could own the house together and manage the mortgage and ownership jointly.
Selling is the most common choice and provides useful cash for the divorce and living expenses, but it does require the couple to work together on a lengthy and difficult financial transaction. Property division gets a lot easier once the house is taken care of because the other assets are smaller and easier to divide. The more amicable the split, the smoother the process of deciding on how to manage the house will go.
Property division can be a hard issue to resolve in a divorce. For many couples, much of the battle is actually agreeing to the plan for the house and the specific terms of the procedure. The faster that gets done, the faster the divorce can be finalized.
