Sell ​​a property in Curacao after a divorce?

3 juli 2019

Sell ​​a property in Curacao after a divorce?

Selling a house after divorce in Curacao


A divorce is usually an emotional event and it is therefore important that when dividing the possessions, you keep your head cool and you have the ultimate goal (dividing) in mind. It often happens that former partners no longer want to talk to each other for a certain period, which makes the sales process more difficult and the costs can sometimes be higher than the revenue.

Separate house for sale: what to do?

A car, furniture or money are usually easy to distribute, you set a real value together and then you make the distribution if one partner with an expensive car is lagging behind, the other partner will receive a larger share of the savings. When partners split up, a joint home is one of the most important things that needs to be shared. If the property is owned by both partners, there are actually few options for distributing it: selling and then distributing whether the other option is that one partner buys out the other partner. Despite every separation that looks different, I explain below how you can best make this process run.

Selling a house

If the property is sold, the amount remaining after deduction of all costs and debts will be divided between the 2 partners.

Sell ​​with surplus value

Does the property yield more than the mortgage debt when it is sold? Then it means that surplus value has arisen. Which part of the surplus value each partner receives is calculated on the basis of ownership. Are both partners the owner of 50 pc? In that case, both partners are entitled to half of the surplus value, which means that each partner is personally taxable for his or her share.

Sell ​​with lower value

if the selling price is less than the outstanding mortgage debt? Then there is undervalue. With the sale, a residual debt arises which both former partners will have to share.
Forced sale through divorce if former partners have no opportunity to buy each other out because neither of them earns or owns enough to pay for the property independently? That is called the sale of the property forced sale. If there is surplus value, then there is still some time but time costs money the longer you postpone the sale, the less there will ultimately be of the surplus value. If there is an undervalue, forced sale is very annoying, because former partners then remain stuck with a residual debt and you still remain connected to each other. With proper insurance, it is possible to get rid of any remaining debt immediately after divorce.

Buying out how does that work?

If one of the partners would like to continue living in the home on Curacao because it was, for example, the parental home, then you should be able to answer the following questions with a yes.

  1. Is your ex-partner ok with that?
  2. Can you pay the mortgage on your own?

 
if both partners want to continue living in the home, the home is usually sold to the partner who can and wants to pay the most for the home

One of the partners continues to live in the house

If both former partners agree that one of the former partners will continue to live in the house after the divorce? Then the permanent partner must buy out the departing partner. In other words: the one takes over the share in the house and the mortgage debt from the other. Usually an expiry date is set on which the joint mortgage ends. From that moment on, the bought-out partner is no longer the co-owner of the house

Buy out

If only one of the partners can pay for the house, the other cannot prevent his or her former partner from taking over the house. He has no interest in selling the house to third parties. Moreover, buying out is cheaper than selling the house to third parties, because there are no selling costs involved. Brokerage costs on Curacao are generally 4% of the selling price at a home of 4 tons that is NAF 16,000
You can buy out with your own money if you do not have it, you can do this by increasing the mortgage. The mortgage lender in most cases the bank then assesses the financial situation of the partner who wants to continue living in the home to judge whether he or she can handle that financial obligation. the buying partner must take over the share in the mortgage debt from the partner that has been bought out, if the current mortgage provider does not agree to transfer the share from one partner to the other partner then you can of course always go to another bank on curacao to apply for a new mortgage, the old mortgage will be repaid and canceled and the new mortgage will be in the name of the buying partner
When buying out an ex-partner you will of course have to know what the value of the property is, that can be done very easily by having a valuation report drawn up or requesting a value determination

The mortgage

Not only the house on Curacao is distributed, but also the mortgage debt attached to it. To calculate what the buy-out sum is, take the value of the home minus the outstanding balance of the mortgage. Based on this outcome, the buying partner will have to decide whether he or she can support the home financially. The higher the surplus value, the more will have to be paid out to the bought-out partner, which in many cases will lead to a higher mortgage debt, so monthly payments for the buying-out partner.

Practical example buying out a partner on Curacao

Brian and Cindy live on Curacao and have decided to get a divorce. Because Cindy also grew up in the neighborhood (Jan Thiel) of their current home, she would like to continue living in their current owner-occupied home. They bought the house more than ten years ago for NAF 350,000. The mortgage debt through a bank on Curacao that is still open on the house is NAF 250,000. 350,000 (= the current home value – mortgage debt). Brain and Cindy are therefore both entitled to half of the surplus value, so NAF 175,000 each. So, if Cindy wants to continue living in their current home in Jan Thiel, then she has to buy out Brain for NAF 175,000. Cindy and Brain do not have joint savings and Cindy is therefore unable to buy out Brian herself. Cindy applies for a mortgage increase of NAF 175,000 from her bank on Curacao because Cindy has a well-paid job, the bank agrees to take over the part of Brian and increase of NAF 175,000 ie new mortgage debt amounted to NAF 425,000 and Cindy has thus become sole owner of the house on Jan Thiel.

Buy out with surplus value on Curacao

If the bank cooperates, buying out in the case of surplus value is very simple. The buying out partner only becomes the owner and the bought-out partner receives compensation. If the bank does not want to cooperate because the buying partner has insufficient income, many other constructions are conceivable, such as writing out a debt letter to the ex-partner or settling it with future child alimentation if applicable. alternative options for buying out are different for each situation I would like to inform you about this in a personal conversation.

Buy out with undervalue on Curacao

If there is undervalue then the departing partner must reimburse the remaining partner for his share in the home plus a part in the undervalue.

Together a mortgage is jointly liable

Is one of the partners going to live somewhere else or has one of them left the house long ago? Then you can agree that one pays less than the other because 1 partner no longer uses the house. However, it is true that both partners remain jointly and severally liable for the mortgage debt. If 1 of both partners does not cooperate, then this is possible. result in annoying and expensive situations in which case it is always wise to call in a mediator

Fiscally

Fiscal partnership is possible when former partners are separated from bed and table but not yet officially on paper. The tax partnership only ends when the following two things are both arranged:

  1. A request for legal separation or legal separation has been submitted to the court.
  2. Partners are no longer registered together at the same address in the basic administration of Kranchi.

If one of the partners no longer lives in the home but still pays for the mortgage and any other charges, the partner who is no longer living there or officially no longer deducts mortgage interest. created, with which ex-partners can deduct the mortgage interest for up to two years after leaving a joint home.

Learn more about this subject? Then contact me via adriaan@sunlife.realty

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