Your state's rules. Your path through the process.

Community property or equitable distribution?

This guide can help you gather questions wherever your divorce is taking place. Property-division rules depend on the applicable state law, not on which states a mortgage professional serves. If you have moved, own property in another state, or are divorcing outside the state where you bought the home, ask your attorney which rules apply.

Community property states

The nine community property states are:

• Arizona
• California
• Idaho
• Louisiana
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• Texas
• Washington
• Wisconsin

In these states, spouses generally have equal ownership interests in community property, including many assets and earnings acquired during marriage. Property owned before marriage, gifts, and inheritances may be separate property. Mixing funds, agreements, and state-specific rules can change the analysis.

Equal ownership does not always mean the court divides every asset or debt 50/50. Divorce-division rules vary even among community property states. Washington, for example, requires a just and equitable division that is not necessarily equal. Your attorney can explain how classification, debts, and any separate-property claims affect your situation.

States with optional community property arrangements

Alaska, Florida, Kentucky, South Dakota, and Tennessee allow certain optional community property arrangements through qualifying trusts or, where permitted, agreements. The requirements and effects differ by state. Living in one of these states does not automatically make your assets community property, and an arrangement may apply only to the property placed into it. Have an attorney review any existing trust or agreement.

Other states: equitable distribution

The other states generally use common-law property ownership and equitable distribution rules in divorce. The goal is a fair division under that state’s law; fair does not always mean 50/50. Oregon is an equitable distribution state. The five states with optional arrangements also generally use equitable distribution outside those arrangements.

Before you agree to a buyout: ask your attorney what is marital or community property, what may be separate, how debts will be handled, and whether moving between states changes the analysis. Do not assume the name on the deed, who earned the income, or a state label answers everything.

Sources: IRS community property overview; IRS discussion of optional arrangements in Alaska, South Dakota, and Tennessee; Florida Community Property Trust Act; Kentucky Community Property Trust Act; and Washington property-division law. IRS guidance addresses tax treatment; your attorney confirms divorce-law application.

Some states put automatic orders in place.

In many states, filing for divorce triggers automatic orders that limit selling, borrowing against, or moving shared property. Ask your attorney before you list the house, draw on a HELOC, or close accounts.

Five ways to reach an agreement

Where the house fits in the timeline

1. Filing. One spouse files, the other responds.
2. Discovery. Both sides share financial records. ← This is a good time to talk to a mortgage professional. A mortgage professional can review your financing using a value provided by an appropriate real estate professional or appraiser, along with your debts and qualification, before anyone agrees to a number.
3. Mediation or negotiation. You work toward a settlement agreement.
4. Trial, if needed. A judge decides what you couldn't agree on.
5. Decree. The court's final order.
6. After the decree. Follow the refinancing, title-transfer, and sale deadlines in your agreement or court order; some may begin before the decree. Changing the terms now can be hard or impossible.