How Will My House Be Divided in My Separation or Divorce in Ontario?

How Will My House Be Divided in My Separation or Divorce in Ontario?

It’s no secret that your home is usually your most valuable asset in your separation or divorce.

What happens to your matrimonial home in the separation and divorce process?

This is a critical question for you.

Hi, my name is Thomas O’Malley.  I’m an experienced family lawyer in Durham Region and the GTA.

The information in this video only applies to married spouses.  It does not apply spouses living in a common-law relationship.

First you need to understand that your matrimonial home is defined as the home in which two married spouses ordinarily reside prior to their separation or divorce.

Both you and your spouse have an equal right to possession of your home unless you and your spouse agree otherwise or a court makes an order that one spouse must move out of your home.

You can go to court to get an order for exclusive possession of the matrimonial home.  This means that the court would order one spouse to move out of your home.  However, this is not an easy order to obtain.

As well, both you and your spouse must agree to sell your home regardless whether both you and your spouse are on title to your home or only one spouse is on title to the home.

Your home impacts another important part of your family law case, that is, the issue of dealing with your property and assets.  The family law term for dealing with your property and assets for married spouses in Ontario is called equalization of net family property.

You must determine your net worth by determining the value of your assets and the amounts of your debts on the date of marriage and the date of separation.  Your former spouse must also make this calculation.

Then the spouse with the higher net worth must pay half the difference to the other spouse with the lower net worth to equalize their net worth.

However, one important exception to this process is the matrimonial home.  If you or your spouse owned the matrimonial home on the date of marriage, you cannot deduct the value of this home from your net worth if you owned the same matrimonial home on the date of separation.

This can make a big difference in determining the outcome of your property and assets family law claim.  The entire value of the matrimonial home must be included in the calculation of the owner spouse’s net worth.

You can only avoid this problem by having a marriage contract that states that the owner spouse can deduct the value of the matrimonial home that they owned on the date of marriage if it is the same matrimonial home on the date of separation.

In the final analysis, you can only do three things with the matrimonial home.  You or your spouse can purchase the other spouse’s interest in the matrimonial home, one spouse can transfer their interest in the home to the other spouse to satisfy part of the equalization payment owning or the whole amount of the equalization payment owing, or the home is sold.

You can see how this issue can get very complicated so quickly!

Make sure you spend some time discussing this really important issues with your family lawyer.

If you have any questions about your separation, divorce or family law case and you would like our help, there’s a few ways to contact our office. 

You can leave a message on my Facebook law office page, visit my website at www.canadiandivorcelegaladvice.com, or call me directly at 905-434-8837.  We would be happy to speak to you.

Oh, by the way, did you know you can protect your family law rights and get essential information on settling your family law issues with your former spouse with the daily indispensable family law advice and tips at my FREE Facebook group? 

Click here to find out more: Durham Region Separation and Divorce Legal Support Group  

Thanks for watching this video.