In Texas, the spouse who is keeping the house needs to pull out the equity, if there is any left, through refinancing and give it to the other spouse. Though there is 80% LTV limit when someone pulls the equity out of their homestead, the state will let you go over 80% LTV when you are pulling the equity to pay off the other spouse. Also, this transaction won't be considered as a Texas Cash Out.

To keep your home in a divorce you can always request that you keep the home and refinance to get your husband/wife off of the loan and/or title. By keeping the home and refinancing with a cash out refinance you can also pay him/her off with either her share of the equity or whatever court-ordered amount you are required to pay him/her.

It is very important to keep paying your mortgage payments on time during and after a divorce. The delinquency of a mortgage payment can adversely effect your credit score. This in turn will limit the types of loan programs you can refinance under.

Make sure that your spouse refinances right away. If they do not and fail to make payments it can affect your credit. Most divorce decree's state a specific date that the loan has to be refinanced by.

There are currently 9 community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.


In these nine states, any property that was acquired before the marriage stays with the person who acquired the property. Any property that was acquired while the couple was together, must be split directly in half. It does not matter whose name the mortgage is in, or who actually acquired the property, the only exception being inheritances and gifts (in some states).

You should consult your local divorce attorney to see what you are entitled too.