: Laurel Starks
: The House Matters in Divorce Untangling the Legal, Financial& Emotional Ties Before You Sign On the Dotted Line
: Unhooked Books
: 9781936268276
: 1
: CHF 9.40
:
: Bürgerliches Recht, Zivilprozessrecht
: English
: 200
: DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
In divorce, deciding what to do with the house can become a huge source of strife, confusion, and even financial ruin. Most are unprepared for the unique legal, financial, and emotional ramifications of either holding on to or selling their house at one of the worst times in their life. The House Matters in Divorce presents the numerous legal, emotional, and practical challenges of equitably settling your marital home-and offers specifics on how to handle those issues and who to turn to for professional help. This book clears up common misconceptions about dividing real estate assets and empowers both parties to be proactive, make smart decisions, and emerge from this complex process financially sound and prepared for the future. It includes detailed information on:• Whether to sell or not• Common pitfalls that plague the uninformed• How to determine what the house is really worth• Making housing decisions that are truly in your children's best interests• What to do about the deed and the mortgage if one spouse stays in the home• Proceeds of the sale (if any) and what to do if there is no equity• The court's perspective and power Learn how best to deal with your most important financial asset-your home-from a real estate expert who specialize in divorce. Get the facts about how to make wise and purposeful choices to set yourself up for success as you move forward with building a new life-a life that includes financial health.
CHAPTER ONE
When Reality Hits
There is a moment in the life of anyone getting a divorce when reality hits home:This is really happening. I’m getting divorced. Whether you’re the one who initiated the breakup or the one on the receiving end, you’ll eventually face this, and it can happen anytime during the process. For some, it’s a jolt of the highest magnitude; for others it’s something that’s been building for a long time, and may even come as a welcome release. You may be glad your marriage is finally over, but you’ll still feel the impact of that moment. It will be important then to keep your perspective: Youwill get through it—and if you make the right choices,you will be okay.
I got my first glimpse of this early in my career as a real estate agent. By chance, one of my very first listings was a divorce case. Some local attorneys had asked me to put a home on the market for a divorcing couple. Like many splits, this one was messy: Greg had been an abusive husband during the couple’s fourteen years together, but Sarah had stayed with him—right up to the point where he moved out to be with his new girlfriend.
Greg’s choices made their divorce inevitable, and by the time I entered the picture it was basically a done deal. Being a new agent, I was excited to have a listing, and so I put all my energy into marketing the house. Within a few days we received an offer. I was proud of myself and knew the attorneys would be relieved. I called Sarah to tell her the good news. Instead of relief or joy, her response was…silence. Then she began to weep. Soon she was sobbing uncontrollably over the phone.
I was stunned. And for the first time I realized the depth of the tragedy I was dealing with. This woman’s life was disintegrating before her eyes. With my phone call, reality came crashing down on her like a tidal wave.
That was a pivotal event in my career, and my life. As an agent who now specializes in divorce sales, I’ve handled hundreds of such cases since then. Yet, that early experience taught me to be much more sensitive to how these events affect real people. Much of my business comes from family law professionals who call me when a couple is splitting and their home needs to be sold. By that time the divorce is usually a foregone conclusion, but as with Sarah, it can take a while for the parties to absorb its full impact. And that is true even for the person who initiates the divorce.
A Complex Process
At least three processes are occurring simultaneously during a divorce: a legal process, a real estate process, and an emotional process. All three are new to most people, and in a divorce they’re all happening at the same time. It’s easy to see why the experience is so wrenching. Legal matters are always daunting for the layperson; few of us go to court more than a couple of