My Partner and I bought a home together and now we’ve broken up, what can I do?
When you purchase real estate with someone, usually you both are added to the title of said property. When two people are on the title to the property, they, according to the law, have an equal share of its value and ownership. Both parties through their ownership interest are given the full right to possesses the home, reside in it, or rent out a portion of it to obtain proceeds if they so choose. However, what happens when the parties that have purchased the property have a falling out? If one or both of the parties do not feel they can occupy the property or use it due to the differences between them, then they cannot continue to jointly own the property because if they do, one or both of them will be unable to properly enjoy their ownership of the property due to the conflict between them.
Often when two owners are at odds with each other one will move out of the property. While that usually quiets down the interpersonal fighting it brings up the question of what the person moving out of the property is able to do to ensure they are receiving value from the property they paid money for but are now unable to make use of. When its the case that both owners can no longer cooperatively own the property, the first solution is to sell it. If both parties are in agreement to sell the property, then a realtor is hired, a sale is made, and the proceeds are split.
One alternative would be for one of the owners to sell their 50% ownership stake in the property. This can often be difficult as most people do not wish to purchase only a 50% ownership stake in a building and want the full ownership.
The final cooperative solution is for one owner to re-finance the home and buy out the stake of other owner. How much that is worth is determined by the parties and is influenced by how much of a loan the purchasing owner can obtain. If all cooperative solutions fail, the only option left to the parties is to go to the Court for a solution. This is done through filing a Complaint for Partition.
Once the complaint is filed, the Court will make the determination of whether the property can be divided evenly between the owners without sale. This is almost never the case and the Court is left with no option available to them aside from ordering the real estate to be sold and the proceeds distributed between the parties.
If the court is not given any additional information regarding the property, the property will be ordered to be sold and the proceeds will be split evenly between the two owners. If one owner has paid significantly more towards the property, be it the original purchase price, the subsequent mortgage payments, the taxes, improvements, repairs, etc.. then these amounts should be mentioned and demonstrated with evidence in the Complaint for Partition. If the Court can determine which owner has invested more money in the property, then they are within their discretion to award one owner a higher percentage of the proceeds than the other owner.
If you own a home with someone and do not feel that you can continue going forward with joint ownership, then consider contacting the law office of Andrew Szocka by calling us at 815-455-8430 or emailing us at info@Szocka.com. We have extensive experience in partition and the dissolution of joint property. We would be happy to assist you in your matter!