Passkey Properties

Selling your house in a Louisiana divorce

Can we sell the house during a Louisiana divorce, and who has to sign?

Who owns the house, why both spouses sign, how partition works and when to sell: a plain guide to selling your house in a Louisiana divorce.

By Passkey Properties · Updated · 7-minute read

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and every case is different, so check yours with a Louisiana attorney or free legal aid.

If you bought the house while you were married, Louisiana usually treats it as community property, owned half and half, and selling it takes both spouses' signatures, before the divorce and after it. You can sell it and split the money, one of you can buy out the other, or a court can divide it in a partition. Talk to your lawyer before you sign anything.

If you don't feel safe at home, the house can wait. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (or text START to 88788), or the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence at 1-888-411-1333. Both are free, confidential and open around the clock.

Want one simple sale, on a date you choose?

Get a written cash offer within 24 hours. No repairs, no cleaning, no fees.

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or call (985) 317-2695

Is the house community property?

Louisiana's default for married couples who live here is community property, wherever you married.

  • Community: what either of you acquired during the marriage through work or with community money, like a house bought with your paychecks. Anything you own during the marriage is presumed to be community unless one of you proves otherwise.
  • Separate: what one of you owned before the marriage, or inherited, or was given alone.
  • The name on the deed doesn't decide it. A house bought during the marriage can be community even if only one name is on the title.
  • A marriage contract changes the rules. Couples can choose separate property in a matrimonial agreement. One signed during the marriage needs a judge's approval, with narrow exceptions.

Mixed cases are common: a house one of you owned before the marriage but paid down with community money, or a separate house you improved together. Those can create claims for reimbursement, so ask your lawyer.

Both of you sign

  • While you're married, selling, mortgaging or leasing a community house takes both spouses' agreement, and so does selling the furniture in the family home. A sale one spouse signs alone can be annulled by the other.
  • After the divorce, you each own half the house. Neither of you can sell, mortgage or lease it, or even your own half, without the other.
  • If your spouse refuses, a court can let you act alone in limited cases: for example, when the refusal is arbitrary and the sale is in the family's best interest, or your spouse can't be found or can't sign. You'll need a lawyer for this.
  • If the house is one spouse's separate property, the rules differ. Even then, the spouse who has the children may get to live there for a time. Ask your lawyer.

What the divorce changes, and when

  • The community ends with the divorce judgment, counted back to the day the petition was filed. What either of you acquires after that date generally isn't community.
  • How long it takes: a no-fault divorce needs 180 days of living separate and apart, or 365 days if you have minor children. Covenant marriages have longer waits, such as two years apart.
  • While it's pending, either of you can ask the court for use of the family home until the property is divided. The spouse living there owes no rent unless the court orders it after a motion, and then only from the date of the motion.
  • Either of you can ask the court to stop the other from selling or mortgaging community property, without posting a bond.
  • Whoever has the house must look after it. A spouse who controls it has to preserve it and manage it prudently, and answers for damage caused by neglect.

Dividing the house: by agreement or in court

By agreement. You can agree on how to divide the house and everything else, even during the marriage, without going to court. Put any deal on the house in writing, signed in the form the law requires for real estate, and record it. Your lawyers can draft it.

In court. Either of you can demand a partition at any time, and a promise never to partition is void. Under Louisiana's partition statute:

  • Each of you files a sworn, detailed list of the community property and debts within 45 days of being served with a motion. If you miss it, the other side's list can become the court's.
  • The court values everything as of the trial and divides it so each of you receives equal net value, ordering a payment from one to the other if that's needed to even it out.
  • For the house, the court can give it to one of you, have you draw lots, or order a private sale on terms it sets, which can include listing it with an agent. A public auction comes only as a last resort.
  • There's no partition judgment before the judgment that ends the community.

Paying the mortgage meanwhile. If one of you pays a community debt like the mortgage with separate money after the community ends, that spouse can generally claim back half. Keep a record of every payment.

Selling before, during or after the divorce

You don't have to wait for the divorce to sell, and you don't have to sell right away. What matters is that you both sign and agree on the money.

  • Before or during the divorce, sign a written agreement on how you'll split what's left after the mortgage and costs are paid, and who pays the mortgage until closing. Until you agree or a court divides it, the money belongs to both of you. If a court has ordered that the property not be sold, follow the order.
  • After the divorce, you're co-owners. You both still sign, or one of you asks for a partition.
  • The mortgage stays on both of you. A divorce decree can assign the debt to one spouse, but the lender can still collect from anyone who signed the loan until it's paid off, refinanced or the lender releases them. A sale pays the loan off at closing. If one of you keeps the house, the other usually stays on the loan unless the one who keeps it refinances or qualifies to take the loan over.
  • If you owe more than the house is worth, a sale won't cover the loan; see owing more than your house is worth. If payments are behind, see behind on your mortgage.

Your options

  • One of you keeps the house and buys out the other's half, usually by refinancing.
  • List it with an agent. Usually the best price, if the house shows well and you can cooperate on showings, repairs and price. Compare the costs in cash buyer or listing.
  • Sell it as-is for cash. One decision, one date and no showings, usually for less money.
  • Keep owning it together for a while, for example until the school year ends, with a written agreement on payments and upkeep.
  • Let the court decide in a partition, if you can't agree.

Passkey isn't the right fit if you have the time, the equity and the goodwill to list it together; that usually brings more. And if you can't agree yet, start with your lawyers or a mediator.

Free help

  • Southeast Louisiana Legal Services helps people who qualify with divorce, custody and related matters, in 22 parishes. Call 1-844-244-7871 or apply online.
  • Self-help: the Louisiana State Bar Association lists self-help centers and court forms by parish. In New Orleans, Civil District Court's Self-Help Resource Center has court-approved forms for divorce and other family matters.
  • Reduced-fee lawyers: the Bar's Modest Means directory lists lawyers who may charge less, for households earning up to 400% of the federal poverty guidelines.
  • The Bar's free brochure, Community Property: What is mine? What is yours?, explains the basics.
  • HUD-approved housing counselors help with the mortgage, free or at very low cost. Use the CFPB's search or call (800) 569-4287.
  • If you're not safe: the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-7233, and the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 1-888-411-1333.

How Passkey can help

If you've both decided to sell and want it simple, ask us for a written cash offer within 24 hours. There's one short walk-through, no showings, no repairs, and no fees or commission, and you choose the closing date together, as soon as 5 days out. Get my cash offer or call (985) 317-2695.

Questions

Can I sell the house without my spouse's signature?

Not a community house, except in narrow cases where a court allows it. A sale one spouse signs alone can be annulled by the other. Separate property follows different rules, so ask your lawyer.

Only my spouse's name is on the deed. Do I have a say?

Yes, if the house is community property. The name on the deed doesn't decide that.

Do we have to wait until the divorce is final to sell?

No. You can sell before, during or after, as long as you both sign. Agree in writing on how to split the money, and follow any court order about the property.

Who pays the mortgage until it sells?

Agree on it in writing. The lender can collect from both of you either way. A spouse who pays with separate money after the community ends can generally claim back half, and a court can order rent from a spouse living there alone.

Want one simple sale, on a date you choose?

Sources

  1. La. C.C. art. 2334: the community property regime applies to spouses living in Louisiana legis.la.gov
  2. La. C.C. art. 2338: what community property is legis.la.gov
  3. La. C.C. art. 2340: presumption of community legis.la.gov
  4. La. C.C. art. 2341: what separate property is legis.la.gov
  5. La. C.C. art. 2328: matrimonial agreements legis.la.gov
  6. La. C.C. art. 2329: a matrimonial agreement during marriage needs court approval legis.la.gov
  7. Louisiana State Bar Association: Community Property, What is mine? What is yours? (revised 2014) lsba.org
  8. La. C.C. art. 2347: both spouses must concur to sell a community immovable legis.la.gov
  9. La. C.C. art. 2353: a sale without the required concurrence is relatively null legis.la.gov
  10. La. C.C. art. 2355: court authorization to act without the other spouse legis.la.gov
  11. La. C.C. art. 2356: what ends the community legis.la.gov
  12. La. C.C. art. 159: a divorce ends the community back to the date the petition was filed legis.la.gov
  13. La. C.C. art. 2369.1: co-ownership rules apply after the community ends legis.la.gov
  14. La. C.C. art. 2369.2: each spouse owns an undivided half legis.la.gov
  15. La. C.C. art. 2369.3: the duty to preserve former community property legis.la.gov
  16. La. C.C. art. 2369.4: no sale of former community property without the other spouse legis.la.gov
  17. La. C.C. art. 2369.7: court authorization after the community ends legis.la.gov
  18. La. C.C. art. 2369.8: the right to partition at any time legis.la.gov
  19. La. C.C. art. 103: grounds for divorce legis.la.gov
  20. La. C.C. art. 103.1: 180 or 365 days legis.la.gov
  21. La. R.S. 9:307: divorce in a covenant marriage legis.la.gov
  22. La. R.S. 9:374: use and occupancy of the family home; rent legis.la.gov
  23. La. R.S. 9:371: injunction against disposing of community property legis.la.gov
  24. La. C.C.P. art. 3944: no bond for injunctions in a divorce legis.la.gov
  25. La. C.C. art. 2336: voluntary partition during the marriage legis.la.gov
  26. La. C.C. art. 809: partition by agreement legis.la.gov
  27. La. C.C. art. 1839: transfers of immovables must be in writing and recorded legis.la.gov
  28. La. R.S. 9:2801: partition of community property legis.la.gov
  29. La. R.S. 9:2802: no partition before the judgment ending the community legis.la.gov
  30. La. C.C. art. 2365: reimbursement for separate money used on a community debt legis.la.gov
  31. CFPB: a divorce decree doesn't remove you from a debt consumerfinance.gov
  32. CFPB: homeowners face problems with mortgage companies after divorce or death (Dec 2024) consumerfinance.gov
  33. National Domestic Violence Hotline thehotline.org
  34. Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence lcadv.org
  35. Southeast Louisiana Legal Services: families slls.org
  36. Southeast Louisiana Legal Services: contact and intake slls.org
  37. Louisiana State Bar Association: self-help services and legal forms by parish lsba.org
  38. Orleans Parish Civil District Court: Self-Help Resource Center orleanscivildistrictcourt.org
  39. Louisiana State Bar Association: Modest Means directory lsba.org
  40. CFPB: find a housing counselor consumerfinance.gov
  41. HUD: avoiding foreclosure, (800) 569-4287 for a housing counselor hud.gov
  42. Louisiana Housing Corporation: foreclosure prevention resources (Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center) lhc.la.gov

Free help, whoever you choose

They're free or low-cost and have nothing to do with us.

  • If you're behind on payments, talk to a counselor first.

    They'll go through your lender's options with you before you decide anything.

  • HUD-approved housing counselors

    Free or very low-cost help with your lender’s options, nationwide.

    (800) 569-4287Find one near you (CFPB)

  • Southeast Louisiana Legal Services

    Free legal help, with offices in Covington, Hammond, New Orleans and more.

    slls.org

  • Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center

    Help with housing discrimination and foreclosure.

    (504) 596-2100

Get your cash offer

Tell us where the house is and the best number to reach you. We’ll be in touch within 24 hours, and there’s no obligation.

Prefer to talk? Call (985) 317-2695.

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