When one spouse wants to keep the marital home after a Florida divorce, the process involves more than deciding who stays. Florida law governs how courts approach this question and the outcome depends on specific financial and legal factors.
How does Florida law treat the marital home in a divorce?
Florida follows an equitable distribution framework. Courts generally begin with an equal distribution of marital assets and liabilities, subject to statutory factors that may support an unequal distribution. A home may be considered marital property depending on when and how it was acquired and whether it has both marital and nonmarital interests. Under Florida Statutes § 61.075, courts consider several factors, including:
- Each spouse’s financial circumstances
- Each spouse’s contributions to the marriage
- The length of the marriage
- The desirability of retaining the home as a residence for a dependent child or in appropriate circumstances, another party
No single factor decides the outcome. The weight a court gives each factor depends on the specific circumstances of the case.
What does a buyout arrangement involve?
One spouse may keep the home by paying the other for their share of the equity. This typically requires determining the home’s current value and the amount of marital equity subject to division. The spouse keeping the home may then provide assets or cash to account for the other spouse’s share.
Refinancing may also be necessary if both spouses remain responsible for an existing mortgage. The spouse keeping the home generally must address both ownership of the property and any continuing mortgage obligation.
How do offset arrangements work?
Florida law also allows marital assets and liabilities to be considered together in determining an equitable distribution, so one spouse may receive the home while the other receives other marital assets. Courts evaluate whether the overall distribution is equitable under Florida’s equitable distribution statute.
Florida Statutes § 61.077 also addresses setoffs and credits involving the marital home when it is sold. The statute provides specific rules for determining entitlement to those amounts.
What to keep in mind about keeping the marital home
Deciding whether to keep the marital home involves more than wanting to stay; it requires a clear-eyed look at whether you can afford to buy out your spouse’s share, qualify for a new mortgage on your own and sustain the home’s carrying costs on a single income. Florida’s equitable distribution rules and the specific provisions of your marital estate will shape what is financially realistic.
A Florida family law attorney can help you assess whether keeping the home is the right decision for your circumstances and how to structure the distribution to make it work.