In this episode of Real Estate 101: the Home Buying and Selling Show, Toronto family lawyer John Schuman discusses sharing home’s value after divorce or separation in Ontario.
What Happens to the Home’s Value During Separation?
As the divorce process can often take a year or longer if it is settled at court, the sharing home’s value depends on a number of things such as:
- Who owns the home
- Are the parties married
- Is the support paid
- Is one spouse paying for all the expenses related to the home (bills for instance)
Sharing Home’s Value When One Spouse Leaves
What happens if one spouse leaves, leaving the other to pay all the bills? In case the two spouses legally own the home together, the spouse that left is not excluded from sharing home’s value when the home is sold. This means that both houses will share the value of the home equally.
This situation, where one spouse continues sharing home’s value even though they left and the other was paying all the expenses is often regarded as unfair. This is where the court uses something called “the principles of equity.” These principles are done in fairness and are used to correct unfairness. For instance, this can be used when one spouse leaves and the other spouse continues to pay the bills, mortgages and upkeep. In this situation, the person who left has no expenses, while the person who stayed is out of money. In this case, the court considers it unfair to consider the home to be jointly owned.
When this happens, the court will declare that the person who stayed is the owner and can get all the increase in the home’s value.
Watch this episode to learn more about sharing home’s value.
For more information on family law contact:
John Schuman
Website: http://www.devrylaw.ca/family-lawyers/john-p-schuman/
Phone: 416.446.5080
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