In many cases, couples who get divorced own a family home. Spouses may vigorously contest who gets to keep the marital home after a divorce in Minnesota, as both spouses may not want to move from the home or may wish to retain the family house, particularly when they have young children. But who gets the house in a Minnesota divorce?
Marital vs. Non-Marital Property
Determining who gets the house in a divorce in Minnesota begins with determining whether the “family” house qualifies as marital or non-marital property. Marital property broadly includes all property acquired by the spouses during the marriage. Non-marital property consists of all property acquired by each spouse before marriage or after separation and any separate property acquired during the marriage, such as inheritances or expressly separate gifts.
When a couple purchases a family home during their marriage, it typically qualifies as marital property. However, classifying the “family” home can become more complicated when one spouse bought the property before the marriage and the couple used marital funds to pay the mortgage or fund upkeep or improvements to the home.
In Minnesota divorces, couples and courts must divide marital property. However, each spouse gets to keep their non-marital property.
How Courts Decide Who Gets the House
Minnesota follows the equitable distribution rule for dividing marital property in a divorce. In equitable distribution, the court must divide property in a fair and just manner. However, courts do not always divide property 50/50 in equitable distribution. Instead, various factors can lead a court to split the equity in the house 50/50 or choose a different split of equity. These factors include:
- Each spouse’s financial contribution toward acquiring and maintaining the home
- Which spouse has primary physical custody of the couple’s children (as courts may prefer keeping the children in the family home to maintain stability)
- The ability of each spouse to afford mortgage payments, property taxes, utilities, and upkeep
- The availability of other assets to balance property division to reach an equitable distribution of the marital estate
A court may decide to award ownership of the family house to one spouse, assigning other assets to the other spouse to account for that spouse’s fair share of the house’s equity.
Options for Dividing the House
Couples and courts have several options for determining what happens to the family home in a divorce in Minnesota:
- One Spouse Buys Out the Other – In many cases, a spouse who wants to keep the house or who receives ownership of the home from the court may buy out the other spouse with cash or by assigning other marital assets to that spouse in the equitable distribution.
- Sell the House and Divide the Proceeds – Couples may agree to sell the marital home, or a court may order a sale when spouses cannot agree on what to do with the home. When a couple sells the house, they will divide the net proceeds according to the equitable distribution provision in their prenuptial agreement or settlement agreement, or as determined by the court.
- Co-Ownership After Divorce – A couple may agree to continue co-owning the house and jointly contributing to mortgage payments, taxes, and other expenses. Although divorced spouses remaining together on the deed and mortgage occurs less frequently, it can happen in cases where exes work together amicably and wish to keep the family home to provide stability for their children after the divorce.
Contact a Divorce Attorney Today
When you and your spouse own a house, determining who gets the property in the event of a divorce can lead to intense, time-consuming, and expensive litigation. Contact Jaspers, Moriarty & Wetherille, P.A., today for a confidential consultation with a divorce lawyer to learn more about dividing your marital home in a Minnesota divorce.