Separation & Divorce
Selling is only one option, and often not the best one. If either of you can qualify on your own income, a buyout keeps the home — which matters enormously when there are children involved.
The fact most people never hear: a spousal buyout can go to 95% of the home’s value. A normal refinance stops at 80%. Because a buyout is treated as a purchase rather than a refinance, an insured spousal buyout goes considerably further — which is frequently the difference between keeping the house and listing it.
The answers in this centre
- My ex and I own the house together. Can I buy them out and keep it?
- We’re both on the mortgage but I moved out. Am I still on the hook?
- Can I use child support or spousal support as income to qualify?
- My credit took a hit during the split. Can I still get financing?
- Do we have to sell the house, or are there other options?
The three things that decide everything
1. A signed separation agreement. It has to spell out who gets what. Lenders won’t work from an understanding between the two of you — they need the document.
2. Whether one of you qualifies alone. The new mortgage is assessed on one income, not two. That’s the real test, and it’s worth finding out early rather than after the house is listed.
3. Getting your name off, properly. Until that happens through a refinance or a sale, you remain liable — whatever you’ve agreed privately.
If neither of you qualifies right now
That isn’t the end of it either. A short-term private mortgage can buy time to sort things out — while credit recovers, while income stabilises, while the agreement gets finalised — and then move to a normal mortgage once the situation settles.
Look at all of it in dollars before anyone lists the house. Between A lenders, alternative lenders and private lenders, there are usually more routes than people are told.
What to do next
Tell me the situation — the property value, the mortgage balance, the incomes, and where the agreement stands. I’ll tell you honestly whether a buyout is realistic, and what it would cost.
Talk it through → · Back to all answers →
General information about Ontario mortgages — not financial, legal or family law advice. Speak to a family lawyer about your separation agreement. Lender and insurer guidelines vary and change. Every file is reviewed individually.