Many couples who decide to get divorced can’t decide what to do with the home. The easiest solution is to sell the home and divide the earnings, but they may both want to keep the house. This can result in long legal battles as they try to determine what needs to be done.
One question to ask yourself at this time is whether or not you’re really doing something that is productive and working toward a goal that is going to help your long-term future. There are some reasons why it’s not worth it to fight over the house.
You may have to get a new mortgage anyway
First and foremost, you and your spouse probably got a mortgage together when you first bought that house. They are likely not going to want to keep that joint mortgage after the split, regardless of who keeps the home. This would mean that you may need to get a new mortgage on your own income, and this is simply not possible for some people.
The house brings a lot of costs and potential debt
Other assets that you may find yourself debating over in court are generally positive financial assets that you control. There’s a benefit to getting to keep the contents of the bank account or an investment portfolio. But the house brings a lot of maintenance costs, taxes, mortgage payments, utility bills and much more. You really need to look at your budget and see how all of this fits and if it’s worth your time and energy to try to keep the home yourself.
If you do end up in a contentious asset division process for any reason, you want to know what options you have and what legal steps to take to protect your interests.