Sell a house in a divorce in Superior, WI

Good to know first: you don't need to do any of this to ask us for a number, and a title company handles the closing paperwork. This page is here if you want the background.

Can we sell while the case is open?

Yes, with agreement or an order. Under the automatic restraint in Wisconsin's divorce law, each spouse is barred from encumbering, concealing, damaging, transferring, or otherwise disposing of property owned by either or both, without the other's consent or a court order.

A judge can also issue a temporary order barring either spouse from disposing of assets, or one about debts and property. Read any order in your file before you sign a listing or an offer.

Get the consent in writing, through your attorneys if you have them, and tell the title company early. A case can't reach a final hearing until 120 days after service or a joint filing, except for an emergency order, so an agreed sale may happen before the judgment does.

Who has to sign the deed?

A deed giving up a married person's interest in a homestead has to be signed or joined by each spouse, even if only one name is on the title. Homestead here means the dwelling and the land reasonably needed for it, at least a quarter acre if available, up to 40 acres. If one of you has moved out, don't assume it stopped being a homestead. Ask your attorney.

How is the house divided?

People mix up two different laws here.

• Marital property: chapter 766 presumes all property of spouses is marital. That's about ownership during the marriage. It isn't the test a divorce court uses to divide things.
• Division in a divorce: the court presumes everything is divided equally, other than what's excluded. That can include property a spouse had before marrying.
• The exclusion: what one spouse got as a gift from a third party or by inheritance generally stays theirs, unless keeping it out would create a hardship for the other spouse or the children.
• Moving off equal: the court can depart from an equal split after weighing factors, without regard to marital misconduct. One is what each party brought to the marriage.
• The family home: another factor is awarding it, or the right to live there for a reasonable time, to the parent with physical placement for the greater time.

You can also agree on a division yourselves, subject to court approval. Each of you will disclose all assets, including real estate, on court forms. Moving property for too little won't necessarily help: assets of $500 or more given away or transferred for too little within a year before filing are presumed still divisible.

What does the judgment do to the title and the loan?

What about tax on the sale?

Ask a tax professional. Generally, a home going to a spouse or ex-spouse in a settlement is no gain or loss with nothing to report. On a sale to someone else, a qualifying sale can exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 on a joint return. If you moved out, you may still count it as your residence when your spouse is allowed to live there under a divorce or separation instrument and uses it as their main home.

Should you use a cash offer to settle the buyout?

A cash offer isn't a buyout value. Our number reflects repairs and resale, so it's usually under what a house could bring on the open market. If one of you is buying out the other, ask your attorneys about an appraisal or an agent's opinion. Using our number could shortchange the spouse being bought out.

A direct sale can fit when both of you want it done, nobody wants to manage showings, or the house can't get a loan-backed buyer. It fits badly when one of you wants to stay and can refinance, when a listing would clearly bring more and time isn't short, or when there's no agreement yet. We'd give you both the same written number, and we deal with whoever holds authority. We can't advise either of you, and how the money divides is for you, your attorneys, and the court.

Where to go in Douglas County

If you aren't safe at home: the automatic order also bars either spouse from harassing, intimidating, or physically abusing the other or a child. CASDA in Superior has 24-hour lines at (715) 392-3136 and (800) 649-2921. Wisconsin's Safe at Home program offers a substitute address, and asks homeowners to call 608-266-6613 first. Don't use a shared device to look this up if someone may be watching it.