For families going through a divorce, there are often many questions associated with the process that one would like answered. Questions about child custody and alimony top the list. While these decisions may not impact every family in a high asset divorce (due to not having children) a popular issue, regardless of children, is who gets the family home in a divorce? Naturally, it can’t really go to both parties in the split, so how does the law decide who gets it?

There isn’t always a clear-cut answer for such a straight-forward question. In cases in which a high asset divorce has children involved in custody decisions, the home usually goes to the spouse who has primary physical custody. This is for the betterment of the child, as to uproot a child from their home seems unnecessary and not in the child’s best interests. For divorces in which children aren’t affected by property decisions it isn’t always as clear who might get the home in a high asset divorce.

Divorces are meant to be fair and equitable. But if both parties want the home, how can the split be equitable? The truth is, oftentimes other assets will offset a piece of property in which one spouse gets to keep it. For example, the spouse who wanted the home (but didn’t end up with it) may get a larger chunk of a retirement account accumulated between the spouses, or another asset like a vehicle or even alimony payments, when appropriate.

In high asset divorces, there are often several other assets to take into consideration. Assets like property, financial accounts and other marital property should be accounted for. If not tallied and made aware of, certain assets could slip through the cracks and it could impact how a person approaches a high asset divorce. Ideally, every asset should be counted and made aware during a high asset divorce.

Source: findlaw.com, “The FindLaw Guide to Divorce and Property Division,” Accessed Aug. 21, 2017