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When you are separated or getting divorced, the last thing you probably want is to continue living with your estranged spouse.
If you owned your home before marriage and don’t believe it qualifies as marital property, you might be tempted to kick them out so the home can be yours alone again.
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However, simply changing the locks or trying to evict your spouse is not a good idea. Doing so could have legal consequences, so you should take the time to understand the law — and ideally consult a lawyer — before taking any action you might regret.
Here’s what you need to know about how the law treats your home during separation or divorce so you can make informed decisions.
How does the law treat your home during a separation or divorce?
The first step in this difficult situation is to ensure your home isn’t marital property.
Assets brought into the marriage — such as a home — are generally considered separate property by default, meaning they are not divided in a divorce. This holds true whether your state follows community property rules (which divide assets equally) or equitable distribution rules (which divide property fairly, though not necessarily 50/50).
However, complications arise if the asset is co-mingled. If your spouse contributed to mortgage payments, helped with renovations, or invested "sweat equity" in the home, it may have been converted into marital property. In such cases, they could have a legal claim to it, so if that’s not the case, you’ll need to demonstrate that you kept it separate.
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Can you remove your spouse if your house is separate property?
Even if your home is clearly separate property, you cannot simply lock your spouse out.
Since you were living there together, the house remains their legal residence until a court formally determines ownership and issues an order requiring them to leave.
Additionally, if your spouse has not worked in years, the court may require you to provide financial support — potentially including their attorney’s fees, temporary or permanent alimony and other assistance. This is especially true if they contributed to your career or left their career to care for your children.
In this situation, negotiating with your spouse is often the best approach, as litigation can become expensive.
Hassle-free property ownership
Bringing a major asset like a home into a marriage can prove difficult — even if you’re at the beginning of your life together and trying to decide how to split housing costs like mortgage payments.
Whether you’re a homeowner now or still looking to get on the property ladder, there are ways to enter the real estate market hassle-free.
An investing platform called Homeshares, for example, makes it easy for accredited investors to gain direct exposure to hundreds of owner-occupied homes in top U.S. cities through their U.S. Home Equity Fund — without the headaches of buying, owning or managing property.
With risk-adjusted target returns ranging from 14% to 17%, this approach provides an effective, hands-off way to invest in owner-occupied residential properties across regional markets.
With a minimum investment of $25,000, you can get access to the $36 trillion U.S. home equity market, which has historically only been for institutional investors.
Another sector that has been limited to a select group of investors — until now — is commercial real estate.
But today, accredited investors can access commercial real estate opportunities with First National Realty Partners (FNRP).
FNRP allows investors to diversify their portfolio through grocery-anchored commercial properties, with a minimum investment of $50,000. Investors can own a share of properties leased by national brands like Whole Foods, Kroger and Walmart.
Simply answer a few questions — including how much you would like to invest — to start browsing their full list of available properties.
If you’re not an accredited investor, crowdfunding platforms like Arrived allow you to enter the real estate market for as little as $100.
Arrived offers you access to shares of SEC-qualified investments in rental homes and vacation rentals, curated and vetted for their appreciation and income potential.
Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived makes it easy to fit these properties into your investment portfolio regardless of your income level.
Their flexible investment amounts and simplified process allows accredited and non-accredited investors to take advantage of this inflation-hedging asset class without any extra work on your part.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.