# Splitting our stuff up



## stuckinboston (Jul 28, 2010)

I'm wondering how one goes about splitting one's married life up, especially in a non-contested divorce with no kids. Do you just go 50/50 down the middle? Do people generally sell the house and split the profit? Leave the house and mortgage in exchange for an equivalent chunk of 401k money?

How have TAM members done this?


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## toonaive (Dec 13, 2012)

Start with who wants the house. If nobody wants it, sell it. Any profit left over go into the pot to be split up. If somebody wants it, whose names are on the mortgage? If both names are, then whoever wants the house, will need to get it refinanced in their name only to get the other name off. Can they afford to take on the mortgage by themselves? If not, then you have a problem. You will have to go back to selling it. All of this assumes you a mortgage on the house. Money is much easier to split than property.


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## stuckinboston (Jul 28, 2010)

Both names are on the mortgage. I don't want the house. Both of us could afford the mortgage on our own.


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## honcho (Oct 5, 2013)

Do you or your spouse want the house? Selling it established the true market value and just setting the real value of the home can be a contested subject. What a house is worth and what they sell for are often quite different. It also gives each party a fresh start as the mortgage is paid off, each person in theory has cash in hand to either buy something new or can just rent. It gets tricky in divorce if one wants to keep the home because while a divorce is going on you cant refinance or get new loans while the case is going on. Banks wont do loans because until they see a final divorce decree they don’t know who is really getting what.

Often once the divorce is final the party wanting to keep the home has a set amount of time to then refinance and if the financing falls thru or gets delays it can make a mess of things and more court dates. 

Do you have a great deal of equity? If one person wants the home it isn’t unusual to let them keep the equity in lieu of splitting a retirement account or forgoing alimony if that would happen to be a factor in divorce. 

Dont sweat the small stuff/household items. The courts dont usually put any real value on the stuff but for many divorces it seems to be the most contested stuff.


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## EleGirl (Dec 3, 2011)

Does he want the house?


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## EnjoliWoman (Jul 2, 2012)

It depends on your logistics. Our assets were minimal - the house had a second mortgage and he was self employed. I couldn't afford the house myself so I left. I felt that his business wasn't interrupted by moving that way. 

As to the rest, anything his family gave us he kept, anything my family gave us I kept (such as antique table, brass bed, his Mom's china, etc.) and the rest was divided based on need/want and fairness, but mostly 50/50. 

Also depends on who earned the most and if both worked.


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## toonaive (Dec 13, 2012)

stuckinboston said:


> Both names are on the mortgage. I don't want the house. Both of us could afford the mortgage on our own.


If he doesnt want the house, then sell it. But, do get it properly appraised to establish a starting value for its sale. Once you untangle the larger assets, the small things are easier(usually). Just try to make it about money only. Its a business deal. 

Your state may have a worksheet you can try and use to help even things up.


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