In many divorce cases, the parties have own their home. When parties divorce and they own a home, there are typically only three options.

The first option is that the husband keeps the house, but refinances the mortgage to remove the wife’s name. The second option is that the wife keeps the house, but refinances the mortgage to remove the husband’s name. The final option is for the parties to sell the house and split any proceeds that might be there after the mortgage and real estate commission is paid.

For many divorcing parties, they are able to agree on a real estate agent. They are then able to cooperate in terms of agreeing on the sale price, repairs that need to be made, how the mortgage payment and utilities will get paid while the house in the market, etc.

However, in other cases, the parties are simply not able to agree. The reality is that some parties end up getting divorced because they cannot compromise. Many parties while going through a divorce are just not able to compromise on the important components of a house sale.

In these cases, and where the sale of the house becomes a litigated issue, a court my decide to appoint a Commissioner to facilitate the sale of the house. Like an arbitrator, the Commissioner decides on the important terms, like the real estate agent, sale price, etc. Of course, the Commissioner gets paid a fee for what they are doing.

Certainly if divorcing parties are able to sell their house without the appointment of a Commissioner, this is preferred. But for some parties, having a Commissioner appointed is really the only option to get the house sold and the proceeds split. Thus, they might think about the motioning the court for such an appointment.