Selling the house during a divorce in Florida or Arizona

Who owns the house in a divorce

Before anyone can sell, it helps to know how the law sees the house. Florida and Arizona use different systems, and the deed alone does not answer the question. This guide explains how each state treats the house and how a sale works during and after the case. It gives no legal, tax or financial advice, so each spouse should speak with their own lawyer.

Arizona is a community property state. Arizona Revised Statutes section 25-211 says property either spouse acquires during the marriage is community property, except property received by gift or inheritance and property acquired after a divorce petition is served, if a decree follows. A house one spouse owned before the marriage, or inherited, can be separate property.

Florida uses equitable distribution. Florida Statutes section 61.075 says the court sets apart each spouse's nonmarital assets, then begins from the premise that the marital assets should be split equally, unless there is a reason for an unequal split. Real property held as tenants by the entireties is presumed to be marital.

Selling while the case is open

In Arizona, section 25-315 puts a preliminary injunction in every divorce, legal separation or annulment case. It bars both spouses from transferring, encumbering, concealing, selling or otherwise disposing of joint, common or community property, unless both give written consent or the court gives permission. It takes effect against the spouse who files when the petition is filed, and against the other when served or on actual notice, whichever is sooner.

So an Arizona sale during the case needs both spouses' written consent or a court order. In Florida, check with your lawyer whether your court has an order on property, and plan for both spouses to sign. When both names are on the deed, both must sign to sell in either state.

Four choices for the house

Here are four paths. The right one depends on the money, the children, and whether the two of you can keep owning something together.

What to agree on before you sell

A sale goes faster when both spouses agree on the basics in writing before any buyer is involved. Use the same numbers for both of you: one set of comparable sales, one payoff letter, one estimate of the closing costs. Pick one person, or both lawyers, to speak with buyers, so offers do not arrive by two routes.

Put the agreement in writing and give it to both lawyers. If the court must approve the sale, build that time into the closing date, and tell every buyer about it on the first call.

• The lowest price both will accept
• The latest closing date
• Who lives in the house until closing, and who pays the bills
• Who takes which furniture, and what is left behind
• How the money is split at closing, or held until the decree

The house and the children

Florida Statutes section 61.075(1)(h) lists the desirability of keeping the marital home as a residence for a dependent child as one factor in dividing assets, when it is fair, in the child's best interest and financially feasible. It is one factor among several, and the court weighs it with the rest.

If one parent stays in the house with the children for a time, the decree should say who pays the mortgage, the tax, the insurance and the repairs, and when the house will be sold.

When the decree does not deal with the house

Arizona Revised Statutes section 25-318(D) says community or jointly held property that the decree does not deal with is held by both former spouses as tenants in common, each with an undivided one-half interest. You would still own the house together after the divorce. Make sure the decree says what happens to the house, who may sell it, and how the money is split.

Section 25-318(B) also lets the Arizona court consider taxes that would come due on a sale of the property. Tell your lawyer and your tax adviser what a sale would bring before the decree is final.

The mortgage after you separate

A divorce decree divides the house between the spouses. It does not change the loan contract with the lender. If both of you signed the mortgage, the lender can look to both of you until it is paid. Ask the lender in writing whether it will release either of you, and on what terms.

A sale pays off the loan for both spouses at closing. The title company orders the payoff letter, pays the lender, and pays out what is left. Until then, agree in writing who pays each month, because a missed payment affects both of you.

Behind on mortgage payments →

Taxes on the sale

IRS Publication 523 (2025) says you may exclude up to $250,000 of gain from the sale of your main home, or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly, if you meet the ownership and use tests: owned and lived in the home for 2 of the 5 years before the sale.

It has rules for divorce. If your spouse or former spouse is allowed to live in the home under a divorce or separation instrument and uses it as their main home, you can treat it as your residence for the use test. If a spouse or former spouse transferred the home to you, you can count the time they owned it as your own. Ask a tax adviser how the timing of the sale affects each of you, because BIMINIO gives no tax advice.

Taxes on a house sale →

Selling the house to BIMINIO during a divorce

BIMINIO buys houses from divorcing couples in Tampa, Miami, Orlando, Lakeland, Phoenix and Glendale, as is. Both owners get the same written cash offer within 24 hours, with the comparable sales we used, so neither has to trust the other's numbers. There are no showings, so neither spouse has to keep the house ready for visitors.

You pick a closing date from 7 to 35 days out that fits the court schedule, and we pay the closing costs. A licensed title company pays the loan and splits the rest as both owners or the court direct. A cash offer is below full market value.

Divorce or separation →