Competing Interests
Normally people use the money they get from selling their house to finance a new place to live. In a divorce, however, the proceeds of the sale often pay for the divorce for either one or both parties. When one of the parties has a lower income than the other, they are generally more eager to sell the house, even in a down market. The party who makes more money is generally the one who has funded the mortgage, and thus is more likely to want to ride out the economic storm, with the hope of getting a higher price for the property. The end result is that many estranged couples end up living together longer than they’d otherwise like.
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“It used to be that a couple would sell their house before getting a divorce but now more divorces are finalized before they are able to sell their house,” says Weinstein. With a reduced nest egg, many still live under the same roof because they can’t afford to move out.
The Psychological Toll
When a divorced couple must live under the same roof, it’s obviously a complicated scenario. Licensed psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert has seen more and more divorcing clients forced to cohabitate because of financial circumstances, and as a result are suffering from psychological distress. They are dealing with disputes and confusion about how to handle overnight guests and how to pay house-related expenses. Alpert also warns of possible domestic violence.
