Matt Biggley, REALTOR®
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Selling a Windsor-Essex home during a separation

Selling the home you shared, with care and without taking sides.

If you're separating, the house can feel like one more big decision stacked on top of all the others. My job is to make it the simpler one: the same information to both of you, nothing signed without both of you, and no opinions on who gets what.

Published Updated Reviewed by Matt Biggley

Please read this first

Each of you should get advice from your own family lawyer.

Before you list, sign anything, or agree on how to split the proceeds, each of you should speak with your own family lawyer. Not a shared one. Your own.

I'm a real estate agent, not a lawyer. I can tell you what your home is worth, how to sell it well and how a sale works. I can't tell you what you're entitled to, what to agree to, or how the law applies to your family. Those answers depend on details only your lawyer will know.

How I work with both of you

I work for the sale, not for one side.

If either of your lawyers or a mediator wants the pricing, the offers or my notes, they'll get them.

  • You both hear the same thing.

    Every update, showing report and offer goes to both of you, at the same time, in writing. Nobody gets the inside track.

  • Nothing moves without both signatures.

    The listing, any price change and any offer need both owners to agree. I won't ask one of you to pressure the other.

  • You don't have to be in the same room.

    We can meet separately, review offers on separate calls, and sign electronically. Plenty of couples do it this way.

  • I stay out of the separation itself.

    I won't give an opinion on who should get what. That belongs with your lawyers. My focus is the best price and terms for the home you share.

Your options for the home

Most couples end up on one of three paths.

Sell now and divide the proceeds

The home is listed and Sold, and the money is split according to your agreement. It often fits when neither of you can, or wants to, carry the home alone.

Watch for: Agreeing on price, timing, and who lives there until closing.

One of you buys the other out

One spouse keeps the home and refinances to pay the other their share. It only works if that person can qualify for the mortgage on their own income.

Watch for: Agreeing on a value you both trust, and the cost of refinancing or breaking the mortgage.

Keep it together for a while

You stay joint owners and sell later, often after the school year. It works when you can still share decisions and costs.

Watch for: Who pays what in the meantime, written down, and what happens if one of you changes your mind.

The Ontario basics

A few rules worth knowing

This is a plain-language overview, not legal advice. Your lawyer will tell you how it applies to you.

  • If you're married, neither spouse can sell the family home alone. Even if it's in one name, Ontario's Family Law Act requires the other spouse's consent or a court order. That's why I ask both of you to sign the listing.
  • Common-law couples are treated differently. The matrimonial home rules apply to married spouses only, so talk to your lawyer about where you stand before we list.
  • Until it's Sold, the mortgage is still both of yours if you're both on it. Agree in writing who pays what until closing.
  • Proceeds can be held in trust by a lawyer until your agreement is final, so the home can sell on the right timeline.

How a sale runs

  1. First conversations, with each of you together or separately.
  2. A legal check-in: each of you confirms with your own lawyer that it's the right time to list.
  3. One market analysis, with the same copy sent to both of you and, if you'd like, your lawyers.
  4. Agreeing on any repairs, cleaning or staging, and who pays for them.
  5. Both of you sign the listing. Marketing and showings begin, with weekly feedback to both of you.
  6. Every offer goes to both of you at once, and you each sign electronically.
  7. Once it's Sold, your lawyers take over the closing and the proceeds, as agreed or into trust.

The step that matters most is the second one. A quick call with your lawyers before we list keeps the sale from getting stuck halfway.

Limits

Family law, tax and mortgage questions depend on your circumstances. Each spouse should get independent legal advice before listing, signing any agreement, or deciding how to divide the home or its proceeds. This page describes how I work; it isn't legal, tax or financial advice.

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