Who gets the house in a Minnesota Divorce?
In Minnesota divorces, the family home is considered to be an asset and therefore, is treated similarly to other assets in a divorce.
First, if either spouse has a non-marital claim on the property, s/he may make that claim. Meaning, there are some circumstances when the family home would not be considered “marital property,” and therefore, would not be an asset that needed to be divided equally among the divorcing couple.
After non-marital issues are addressed, the remaining marital equity on the house can be determined. In order to determine equity, the house must get a value and any mortgages should be used.
Most typically, marital equity in the home will be the house’s value minus outstanding mortgages on the home. This marital equity is what needs to be divided.
If one spouse doesn’t care about the house in a divorce and there are plenty of other assets, it’s usually easy to divide the house. IN this case, one spouse often keeps the house. The other spouse is then paid his/her marital share of the house from other marital assets.
If both spouses want the house in a divorce, or if there is not enough other marital assets to offset the value of giving the house to the other spouse, creative solutions may be needed to assign the property and to respect the other spouse’s right to the value of the property.
Keep in mind, although we’re talking about the family home, this type of valuation can apply to any real estate property.
If you have more questions, please review the links to the left, head back to the MN Family Law Attorney home, or visit Majeski Law. If you’re interested in retaining an attorney, please feel free to email or call using the links in the upper right.