As indicated in the first part of this blog series, no matter how you twist and turn it, a divorce will never be easy when you have kids, property, investments, and liabilities. Keeping the family home might not be an option.

I thought of putting together a several part blog post that gives ideas and personal insights on how you might “Face the financial aftermath after a divorce”. First, let me advise you that I am not an attorney, CPA, or tax advisor. All of this information given is not to be taken as legal, financial, or tax advice. This is just for informational purposes and comes from personal experience as well.

When the decision is made that you are going to keep the home, make sure you are taking full personal responsibility for the home. Before this you first need to look at your own personal financial situation.

You need to ask yourself several questions:

* Do I have sufficient credit and income to apply for and get a new mortgage in my name, including paying off the other party?

* Can I afford making the house payment with my current income?

When you don’t have the credit or sufficient income you might consider selling the house during the divorce proceedings. When you have all the bases covered consider applying for a new mortgage during the divorce proceedings and make this a stipulation that will be part of the divorce. This would be good to have happen before the divorce is final, or within a certain time after the divorce.

The ultimate goal is to have all the assets and liabilities, including the home, split and each party stand responsible for their own debts and obligations.

As an example I will use the real estate. When you have the deed for the real estate and the mortgage in your name only, the bank cannot call your ex for payments if you get behind and your ex cannot find out about your business.

When the deed is in your name and the mortgage is still in the name of the ex and you miss a payment, guess what, they will not call you, they will call your ex and harass them for the missing payment.

You need to be brutally honest with yourself and just keep in mind that a house is not a home until you make it a home. Sometimes you have to start new and make new memories.

When you have any question about real estate and divorce please contact the Settles Team.