Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: House sale after divorce

This scenario seems to be coming up more and more in this forum, i.e., folks get divorced and they still haven't settled major property matters such as what happens to the marital home. BEFORE the divorce is final, is the time to settle such property issues as to what happens to the family home and not AFTERWARDS. If the parties can't decide or agree, then they should let the divorce court judge make the decision through the remedy known as equitable distribution. The important thing is to get it settled BEFORE the divorce is finalized.

As to your particular situation, if you can't convince your ex-wife to allow you to now buy out her interest in the property, you will have to hire a lawyer and file a partition suit (could be quite expensive) in the local circuit court which would likely result in a court order to sell the property and divide the sale proceeds between the owners of record in the event that a settlement can't be worked out between the parties (you and your ex).