If we have a house that could sell for around $245k and we owe $215k, when determining a fair split do we assume there is a sale and 0 equity or do we go with the pre-sale equity value of $30k?
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If we have a house that could sell for around $245k and we owe $215k, when determining a fair split do we assume there is a sale and 0 equity or do we go with the pre-sale equity value of $30k?
If we sell the closing costs and other associcated fees would reduce our $30k equity to almost zero. One of us can afford to stay in the house and intends to while the other simply cannot afford it. Fortunately, we aren’t arguing about this issue, we just don’t know. Is there a standard way of handling this?
Asked on January 5, 2016 under Family Law, Washington
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Ultimately, the parties could choose any split that they want--there is no requirement as to how to do this. That said, typically the split is of the post-closing-costs amount, unless one of the parties agrees to bear or absorb those costs. So usually, if the net after paying costs is $0, there is no money to distribute or split.
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