When North Carolina couples divorce, sometimes people will struggle with whether they should remain in the home or choose to move out and sell it. The marital home may be the largest asset from a marriage, making the decision more difficult.
Several considerations might guide their choice. If the mortgage is paid off, it might be tempting to stay in the house. However, people should still think about the costs of heating and cooling the home, the property taxes and the maintenance costs in order to determine whether or not they can afford to live there on just one income.
If children have moved away, the home may simply be too large for one person. In many cases, a home will have a mortgage in both spouses’ names, and people might have to refinance it in their name only, which can often be difficult. People who decide to sell the home should expect to divide the money from the sale with their former spouse.
It is common for complex property division issues to arise when a couple is divorcing after a lengthy marriage. In a longer marriage, a couple may have had time to accumulate more assets, and they might have a variety of different types of properties. The marital estate will include the property that was accumulated during the marriage with a few exceptions. People should expect such things as their retirement accounts, business interests, real estate holdings and other asset classes to be equitably divided in their divorce cases. There might also be questions about child custody, child support and spousal support. A person might want to get help from a family law attorney for guidance during the process.