As a homeowner, you may feel a great attachment to your home. This is logical as a home should be your safe place. If you have renovated or decorated your home, you may feel great pride in your work. If you have children, you no doubt have many memories relating to your children and the house. This can make it difficult to think about losing your home in a divorce. However, before you rush to keep your house or let your spouse keep the house after your divorce, you should understand how your mortgage lender views things.
As explained by The Mortgage Reports, your home loan lender does not pay attention to the terms of your divorce decree. Should you and your spouse make an agreement that one of you will keep the home and pay the mortgage but allow the existing joint mortgage to remain, your lender will still view both of you as financially responsible for the debt.
If the person who agreed to pay the mortgage fail to do so for any reason, the lender may pursue the other party for repayment. This could set off a whole new conflict between the two of you that most people would and should prefer to avoid. A new mortgage in one person’s name solidifies sole responsibility for the home loan.
If you would like to learn more about how to properly evaluate your choices regarding your home and mortgage as well as your other assets and debts when separating from your spouse, please feel free to visit the property division page of our Virginia divorce and family law website.
