When parents of minor children get divorced, they sometimes decide to sell the family home. This is a straightforward tactic for parents who are simply trying to divide their assets. Selling the home for a profit means they can split that profit (or otherwise integrate it into the fair division of their broader marital estate) and move forward with their lives.
But they certainly do not have to sell their family home. In some cases, a divorced couple will decide to keep the home together. This approach is surprising to many. Yet, there are often good reasons for moving forward in this way.
Birdnesting with their children
One potential approach involves using birdnesting as a child custody solution. This is a tactic wherein the children always live in the same home and the parents move in and out on the custody schedule, rather than having the children move in and out of the house. Since having a central home for the kids may be necessary, keeping the family home jointly may be the easiest way to accomplish this aim.
Selling in the future
Some parents will look at the real estate market and determine that they could sell their house for far more in the future than they could at the moment. They may continue to jointly own the home, even if neither one of them lives in it, purely because it is a financial investment worth treating with care.
Waiting to become empty-nesters
Finally, some parents get divorced when they’re close to becoming empty-nesters. Say that they have two children, and they are a junior in a senior in high school. Moving away from their school, their neighborhood and their childhood home could be hard for those children. Parents will sometimes jointly own a home so that one parent and the children can still live in it until they become empty-nesters, when they’ll sell the home or move forward in some other agreeable way.
These are just a few reasons why parents may decide to keep a family home post-divorce. Dividing assets can get complicated, so those involved need to know exactly what options they have and what steps to take to achieve their goals, regardless of whether creative or straightforward approaches are called for.