Dividing a vacation home in a Texas divorce

It’s important to observe state laws when approaching a divorce. This is because state law dictates many crucial details such as the grounds for divorce and whether assets are subject to community property laws.

If you are getting divorced in Texas and you own a vacation property, it would be wise to understand how a divorce will likely affect your rights to the property before continuing the process. The possible outcomes will largely depend on what you and your divorcing spouse want to achieve. The following are some important considerations and potential outcomes.

Is the vacation home marital property?

You will first need to consider whether the vacation home counts as marital property. Generally speaking, marital property counts as an asset that was acquired during the marriage, with the exception of gifts and inheritance. If the asset is marital property, it will be subject to division.

How community property laws affect marital property

Texas is a community property state. This means that in almost all circumstances, all marital assets and debts will be split equally between divorcing spouses. Technically, 50% of the vacation home will belong to your divorcing spouse and 50% will belong to you.

Liquidating the property

If neither spouse has a strong desire to keep to property and would rather have the flexibility of gaining 50% of the equity, the property can be sold. This may allow you to purchase a new vacation home as a sole owner.

Deducting the equity from assets owed to you

If one spouse wants to keep the vacation home, they may be able to do this by deducting the other 50% of the equity from other assets owed to them. For example, you may be able to swap out the equity owed to you in the primary home with the equity owed to your spouse in the vacation property.

What happens if both spouses want to keep the vacation home?

If both spouses want to keep the vacation home, this dispute will need to be resolved through litigation or another dispute resolution method.

If you want to understand more about how a Texas divorce will affect your real estate investments, you should plan ahead so that you can gain a clear overview.