Married couples may have children together, buy houses, grow bank accounts, retirement accounts and other types of financial accounts. They also buy vehicles, household goods and products needed for their homes. If the couple ends the marriage in a divorce, they will need to divide all the property that they acquired during the marriage.
Some of the property people own can be divided relatively easily, such as the various bank accounts. Some of the other assets can be more difficult to divide such as a house. People cannot just cut a house in half. There are a couple of different options that couples have to split their home.
Options for dividing the house
One option is that one spouse will keep the house and then take more of the marital debt to offset the equity that they are gaining. Another option is the spouse that keeps the home takes a loan to pay the other spouse their portion of the equity in the home. The spouse not keeping the home could be given more of the other property owned by the couple in order to equalize the amount the spouses receive. If none of these options will work for the couple, they may need to sell the house and split the proceeds from the sale of the house.
There are many different assets that people acquire during their marriages in Texas. In a divorce these assets need to be divided and it can be a complicated process. First couples need to determine which property is marital and which property is separate property. Then they need to determine the value of the property, which may require appraisals and the use of various experts. Finally, once the couple knows the marital property as well as the values, they can divide it equitably. Experienced attorneys understand how property is divided and may be able to guide one through the process.
