Selling during a military divorce

Start with the calendar

Tell me the dates you know: a report date, a move window, a lease ending, a pack-out. Then tell me the dates you don't know yet. Write them on one page. I'd rather build a plan with a few question marks than find out about a move two weeks before closing.

We work backward from there. Listing date, likely offer window, and the date by which anyone leaving needs to have signed or arranged to sign from a distance.

If a move date shifts after we list, tell me and your spouse at the same time, and I'll rework the plan and send the new version to both of you, so nobody is working from an old schedule.

Legal questions go to your attorney

Military divorces raise questions I'm not qualified to answer, about service members' legal protections, retirement and benefits, and where a case can be filed. I won't guess at any of them. Please ask an attorney who handles military divorce, and ask early, since the answers can affect when and how the house is sold. If you're in Lane County and don't have an attorney yet, the Family Court Assistance Office at 541-682-4302 can explain procedure and make referrals, though its facilitators can't give legal advice.

The Oregon rules still apply to the house. Once papers are served, ORS 107.093 restrains both of you from selling or encumbering property the other has an interest in without written consent or a court order, and everyone on title signs the deed.

Bring that attorney's answers back to both of us in writing.

Selling from a distance

If one of you has already moved, the sale can still be run fairly. I send the same updates, photos and offers to both of you by email, schedule calls across time zones, and record a video walkthrough so the spouse who's away sees what buyers see. Nobody on the far side of the country should be the last to know.

Signing is the piece to plan early. Ask the title company, as soon as we're under contract, how they'll handle a signer who's out of state or overseas. Ask your attorney whether a power of attorney makes sense for you. If time zones make live calls hard, I'll put every decision in an email with a clear reply-by time, and I won't treat silence as a yes from either of you.

I'll also share showing feedback and online activity on the listing in the same weekly email to each of you.

The loan questions

If your loan is a VA loan, ask your lender directly what assuming it would involve and what happens to each of your entitlements. Get the answer in writing. The answer on assuming an FHA or VA loan is a starting point. For an FHA loan, the loan is assumable, but the original borrower stays liable unless the lender releases them.

Either way, a quitclaim deed doesn't take anyone off a mortgage, and only a sale, a refinance or the lender's release does, which matters if either of you plans to buy again after the move. Ask early.

If the house will be empty

When both of you have moved, the house needs someone looking after it. We'll agree in writing on who pays utilities and insurance, who handles yard care and who I call if a pipe leaks. Check with your insurance agent about coverage on a vacant house. Ask before you leave.

I can coordinate vendors and send you both photos after each visit, so the house stays show-ready while you're settling in somewhere else.

Ask your attorney, too, whether your agreement should say who decides on an urgent repair when neither of you can be reached quickly, because a burst pipe doesn't wait for two people in two time zones to agree. Leave me a spare key and tell me who else has access.

What to send me first

Send what you have. A partial list today is more useful than a complete one the week before your report date, because the earlier I know the shape of your move, the more room there is to price, prepare and show the house without rushing.

1. Your known move dates, and any you expect but haven't confirmed.
2. The loan type and lender name from your most recent mortgage statement.
3. The name and email of each attorney, if you have one.
4. Where each of you will be living during the listing and at closing.
5. Your answers from the path finder, so I can see which route you are leaning toward.