
Potential Drawbacks of Keeping the House in Your Divorce
On Behalf of Law Offices of Michael A. Robbins | Dec 17, 2019 | Uncategorized |
When you are planning for a divorce in Michigan, one of the major issues you are likely contemplating is how your property will be divided. As you may know, under Michigan law, courts use a theory of equitable distribution to divide marital property. This means that courts look at a wide variety of factors to determine a division of marital property that would be fair to both parties. Most often when courts divide marital property and a marital home is involved, the house will be sold and the court will distribute the profits based on what is equitable to the parties. However, in some cases, one of the parties wants to remain in the home.
Typically, one spouse will keep the family home either because the court distributes it in the process of property division or because the spouses enter into a marital settlement agreement. Yet keeping the home might not be the best option for everyone. We want to discuss some of the potential downsides with you.
Why Would One Spouse Want to Keep the Home?
To consider the downsides of keeping the house in your divorce, it will be important to weigh the limitations of retaining the home against the benefits. There are a variety of reasons that one spouse might want to keep the family residence. For example, the couple may have minor children from the marriage, and one of the spouses might want to remain in the home as a point of stability for the kids. Other reasons may exist, too.
But when you are thinking about negotiating with your spouse to keep the house, you should consider the drawbacks.
You Will Need to Pay Taxes on the House
Even if you can afford the monthly mortgage payment on your home, you will need to take into account the cost of taxes. Depending upon where in Michigan your house is located, your taxes could end up being quite expensive.
Consider Homeowner Association Dues
If you live in a neighborhood with a homeowners association (HOA), you will need to pay HOA dues or fees on a monthly basis in addition to paying your mortgage. These can be expensive, and they can increase.
Upkeep on the Property can be Costly
In addition to monthly or yearly costs that you can anticipate like taxes and HOA fees, the upkeep on a house can be extremely expensive. If you have an older home, major appliances can break and require replacing, and you may even need to do major repairs on the house itself. Even if you own a relatively new home, upkeep issues can still catch you off-guard. If keeping the house and making high monthly mortgage payments will result in your living paycheck-to-paycheck, an unexpected repair could end up setting you back.
Refinancing May Be Necessary
If you are awarded your home, you may have to refinance the mortgage to remove your spouse’s name, which could be difficult and expensive.
Discuss Your Situation with a Michigan Divorce Lawyer
If you want to keep the house in your divorce but have concerns, an experienced Michigan divorce lawyer can talk with you about property division and marital settlement agreements. Contact the Law Offices of Michael A. Robbins for more information.
Recent Posts
Archives
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
Categories
RSS Feed
Let us help you

Contact The Firm
3910 Telegraph Road
Suite 200
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
Phone: 248-646-7980
Fax: 248-646-7989