Yes. A home equity line of credit on the marital home does not prevent a sale, and it’s one of the more routine parts of closing, even in a divorce. The remaining balance is paid off directly from the sale proceeds, the same way a first mortgage is paid off, before either spouse receives their

Dividing a house in a divorce raises a practical question that often gets overlooked until escrow or the assessor’s office brings it up: will moving the property from joint names into one spouse’s name cause the property taxes to increase? For most divorcing couples in California, the answer is no. The state has a specific

Every house needs some upkeep. This is about something bigger, a roof that’s past its life, a foundation with real movement, electrical or plumbing systems that haven’t been touched in decades, or an addition that was never permitted. On top of a divorce, that kind of repair list can feel like one more problem neither

Repairs take money, time, and cooperation, and a divorcing household often has less of all three than it used to. When neither spouse wants to fund a new roof, repaint the interior, or manage a contractor while also untangling a marriage, selling the house as-is becomes the practical choice. Selling as-is during a divorce is

A house sale is rarely the hard part of a divorce. Agreeing on the house sale is. One spouse may want to sell quickly and move on. The other may want to stay, especially if children are still living there, or may simply be avoiding a decision they’re not ready to make. Either way, the

A missed mortgage payment is stressful on its own. Going through a divorce at the same time adds a second, separate set of legal questions on top of it. Many California couples in this position want to know one thing first: can we sell the house before the bank does? The short answer is yes,

If you and your spouse have agreed to sell the house, the biggest question on your mind is probably timing. Do you have to wait until the divorce is final? Can one of you list it without the other’s signature? And once it’s listed, how long until you actually have a check in hand? The

Once a divorcing couple agrees the house needs to be sold, a second question usually follows close behind: sell it now, while the divorce is still working through the court, or wait until everything is final? There’s no single right answer. The better choice depends on your tax situation, how urgently you both want this

California is one of a small number of states that divides marital property under community property rules rather than the “equitable distribution” approach used elsewhere. That distinction shapes almost everything about how a house, rental property, or vacant lot gets handled in a divorce, from who has a legal claim to it, to how it