Selling the Home in a Divorce: A Plain-Words Guide for Virginia Homeowners
What to ask first, how the deed and the mortgage work, and how a sale can run with both owners informed.
One Step at a Time
This is a hard time to make big decisions about a house. You may be reading this on your own, or with the other owner. Either way, this guide is written for you.
It puts the steps in order, in plain words. It comes from Mike and Claudia Webb of The Mike Webb Team, with RE/MAX Allegiance. We have more than 34 years in real estate. We don't take sides, and we don't give legal advice.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. A Virginia attorney and a CPA can tell you what applies to you.
Call or Text 703-350-3884
Step 1: Talk With Your Attorney First
Before you sign a listing agreement or a contract, ask your attorney:
- Who is on the deed, and who has to sign to sell?
- Does an agreement or court order say anything about the home?
- Is there a date the home has to be sold by?
- How will the money from the sale be handled and divided?
A Virginia court can make temporary orders while a case is pending, including who may use the home. It can also order a home transferred or sold. If you have an order or a signed agreement about the home, tell us before anything is listed.
A final divorce can also change how you own the home. Under Virginia law, it ends survivorship rights, and ownership as tenants by the entirety becomes a tenancy in common. Ask your attorney what that means for your deed.
Need a lawyer? The Virginia State Bar's Lawyer Referral Service is at 800-552-7977. When we checked in November 2026, the fee was $35 for a consultation of up to 30 minutes.
Step 2: Keep the House and the Loan in Order
While you decide, the home still needs care:
- Keep the insurance in place.
- Know who is paying the mortgage, the real estate taxes and any HOA dues, and keep a record of each payment.
- Keep the mail and the bills going to someone who will act on them.
The mortgage is its own question. The CFPB says a decree can assign a debt to one spouse, but a creditor can still collect from anyone named as a borrower. Taking your name off the deed doesn't take it off the loan. You generally stay responsible until the lender releases you or the loan is refinanced to remove your name.
Selling the home and paying off the loan at closing ends that question. If one of you will keep the home, ask the lender and your attorney what comes next. The CFPB says a refinance is not always required, if the owner keeping the home can meet the lender's requirements.
Step 3: Decide Whether to Keep or Sell
There's no right answer for every situation. These questions help:
- What is the home worth today, and what is owed on it?
- What does the home cost each month: loan, taxes, insurance, utilities and upkeep?
- Could one owner qualify for the loan and carry those costs alone?
- What would each of you need for your next place?
If you want to know what the home is worth today, we can walk through it, in person or by video. There's no cost and no obligation. We can give both owners the same information, at the same time or separately.
Step 4: How a Sale Works With Two Owners
Every situation is different, so we work the way that works for the two of you.
- Meetings. We can meet together, in person or on Zoom, or talk with each of you separately.
- Offers and updates. Both owners hear about every offer and every update.
- Decisions. The two of you make the decisions about your home. We don't make them for you.
- Attorneys. Most of the time we talk with the two of you directly. When it helps, we also work with your attorneys.
If the two of you can't agree on something, that's a question for your attorneys.
Step 5: Know the Tax Basics
Ask a CPA before a date is set, because timing can change the answer.
- Moving the home from one spouse to the other. The IRS says you generally don't recognize gain or loss on a transfer between spouses, or to a former spouse as part of a divorce. The person who receives it generally takes on the other's tax basis, which matters at a later sale.
- Selling the home. You may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or up to $500,000 on a joint return, if you meet the IRS tests. With jointly owned property, you report your share of the gain.
- If one of you has moved out or the home was transferred. The IRS has rules for counting ownership time and use of the home in these cases, including use under a divorce or separation agreement.
Step 6: If You Sell, Choose How
A divorce is no time to manage a house project.
Getting it ready. Every seller who lists with us gets The White Glove Home Sale Method at no additional cost, whatever the price or type of home. It covers painting and repairs, physical staging, deep cleaning, carpet and window cleaning, caulking, power washing, landscaping, removing unwanted items and furniture, and taking donations to the charity you choose. Claudia runs the timeline, so neither of you has to coordinate the work.
Bigger projects. If the home needs new flooring, a new kitchen or other big-ticket work, ask us about Concierge Services: renovate now, pay at closing. How that cost is shared is a question for your attorneys.
As it is. Sometimes that's the right choice. We can show you what the home could sell for prepared and what it might sell for as it is, and the two of you decide. Either way, we list it, market it and handle the sale.
Nothing happens without your say.
When You're Ready to Talk
You can call us together or on your own. Have a question, even a small one? Call or text us at 703-350-3884.
If either of you will be buying next, we can help with that too, or connect you with a trusted agent if you're moving farther away.
Mike and Claudia Webb
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