You’re getting divorced, but you still want to keep your main residence? There are several ways you can keep the home you’ve spent your family life in.

How to keep your family home after divorce

I’m a co-owner with my spouse: I apply for preferential allocation of the property

When the community is divided, you can ask for preferential allocation of the family home.

In return, you will have to pay your spouse property of equivalent value, or a sum of money corresponding to the value of the part of the home that they own.

If your spouse owes you a compensatory allowance, you can also request that the allowance be paid in the form of the attribution of the family home.

How do you implement this preferential allocation?

You and your spouse can agree on who will benefit from the ownership or enjoyment of the family home.

If your spouse disagrees, the judge will decide. The judge may award ownership of the home to a spouse, who will have to compensate financially for this withdrawal from the estate. Or the judge may decide to maintain joint possession of the property by proposing a joint possession agreement.

Once this preferential allocation has been implemented, you will be the sole owner of the property. If you occupy the property during the divorce proceedings, your spouse may ask you to pay an indemnity for occupying the property.

My spouse is the sole owner: I oblige my spouse to rent me the property

If your spouse is the sole owner of the property used to house the family, you can ask the judge to oblige your spouse to rent the property to you.

The judge may grant your request if you have sole parental authority over your children, or if the children have been living in the property for some time and it is in the children’s best interests to keep it.

The judge will set the rent and the duration of the lease, which will be renewable until the youngest child reaches adulthood.

I rent a home with my spouse: I apply for the right to the lease

If you have rented your family home, you and your spouse are joint tenants.

You can ask the judge to award you the right to the lease on the premises used for living purposes. The judge will decide, taking into account your financial and family interests.

Continuing to live in your family home can be emotionally and financially important to you, so it’s a good idea to seek advice from an AGN lawyer before the divorce proceedings, to determine the most appropriate strategy for you to continue to live there after the divorce.