Divorce House Buyout Calculator: What It Costs to Keep the Home
One of you wants to keep the house. This works out what the other is owed, the loan you'd need in your own name, and whether the LVR is one a lender will refinance.
To work out a house buyout in a divorce, subtract the mortgage from the home's current value to get the equity, then multiply by your ex-partner's share of it under the settlement — on an $800,000 home with $450,000 owing and a 50/50 split, you pay $175,000 and refinance $625,000 into your own name.
Last updated September 2026
When a couple separates and one person wants to stay in the home, the conversation comes down to two numbers: what the leaving partner gets paid for their share, and whether the one staying can borrow enough to pay it. This calculator does both. It takes the home's value, the mortgage balance and the equity split you've agreed (or expect a court to order), and gives you the payout, the size of the new loan in your name alone, and the repayment on it.
The split is an input, not an assumption. Family law settlements regularly land somewhere other than 50/50, whatever the title says, so set the percentage to match your agreement and the rest follows.
How this calculator works
- Net equity first: the home's current value minus what's still owing on the mortgage. Use a valuation or appraisal, not a guess. In a divorce the value is the one input each of you has a reason to shade, and an independent figure takes that off the table.
- The payout is that equity times your ex-partner's share. If you've agreed an adjustment — money one of you owes the other, a credit for repairs one of you paid — enter it and the payout moves by that amount.
- Then the refinance: the new loan in your name has to clear the existing mortgage and fund the payout, so it's the two added together. The calculator shows that loan as a percentage of the home's value (LVR in Australia, LTV in the US) and the monthly repayment at the rate and term you enter. Above 80% you're into lenders mortgage insurance or PMI territory; past 90% the field of lenders narrows fast, though some will go to 95% on a separation refinance.
How to calculate a house buyout in a divorce: a worked example
Say the home is worth $800,000 and the mortgage balance is $450,000. Net equity is $350,000. With a 50/50 split, you pay your ex-partner $175,000 for their half. To do that you refinance $625,000 — the $450,000 mortgage plus the $175,000 payout — which is a 78% LVR. At 6% over 30 years that's about $3,747 a month, carried on one income.
Now change the split. If the settlement gives your ex-partner 40% of the equity, the payout drops to $140,000 and the new loan to $590,000. If the home were worth $700,000 instead, equity falls to $250,000, the 50/50 payout is $125,000, and the new loan of $575,000 sits at 82% LVR — over the 80% line where LMI or a higher rate kicks in, and where the staying partner often adds cash to bring it back under.
Australia and the United States
The math is the same wherever you buy. For country-specific tax and legal detail — stamp duty and CGT in Australia, closing costs and capital gains in the US — read the guide for Australia or the United States.
Good to know
- Equity times share, plus any adjustment you enter. It doesn't include legal fees, valuation costs, refinance fees or the cost of a new deed.
- Duty and tax are left out because they usually don't apply to a transfer done under a formal settlement: in Australia the transfer is typically exempt from stamp duty under court orders or a binding financial agreement, with CGT rollover relief; in the US a transfer between spouses incident to divorce isn't a taxable event. Neither is guaranteed for an undocumented transfer — get the paperwork right.
- The repayment is a principal-and-interest estimate. Whether a lender approves the refinance depends on your income, expenses and their policy, not on this page.
- Educational estimate, not legal, tax or financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate buying out a spouse's share of the house?
Current value of the home, minus the mortgage balance, times your ex-partner's share of the equity under your settlement. On an $800,000 home with $450,000 owing and a 50/50 split, the equity is $350,000 and the payout is $175,000. Add any adjustments you've agreed, then check you can refinance the mortgage plus the payout in your own name.
Is the split always 50/50?
No. The title might say 50/50, but a family law property settlement looks at what each of you contributed, your future needs and what's fair overall, and the equity split can land anywhere. Set the percentage in the calculator to match your agreement or your lawyer's advice rather than assuming half.
Do I pay stamp duty or transfer tax when I buy my ex out?
In Australia, a transfer of the home between separating spouses or de facto partners as part of the breakdown settlement — under court orders, consent orders or a binding financial agreement — is exempt from transfer duty in every state, with Western Australia charging a nominal $20. Without that paperwork the transfer can be dutiable. In the US there's no federal tax on the deed transfer, and many states exempt divorce transfers from their own transfer taxes; check yours.
Is there capital gains tax on a divorce buyout?
Usually not at the point of transfer. In Australia the relationship-breakdown rollover applies when the transfer is made under court orders or a binding financial agreement: no CGT then, and the partner keeping the home inherits the original cost base. In the US, a transfer between spouses incident to divorce isn't a taxable event under section 1041, and the recipient takes over the other's basis. Tax can arrive later, when the home is eventually sold.
Do I have to refinance to buy out my ex-partner?
Almost always. Your ex-partner's name only comes off the mortgage when the loan is replaced with one in your name alone, and the new loan has to cover the old balance plus the payout. You need to qualify for that amount on your own income, and lenders decline that more often than people expect. Check what you can borrow before a figure goes into the orders.
What if we want to keep co-owning the house after the divorce?
Many couples do, usually for the kids or because neither can refinance yet. It works when the arrangement is written down: who lives there, who pays what, how long it lasts, and what triggers a sale or buyout. Put it in your consent orders or agreement so the property-settlement time limits don't run out on you.
What if we can't agree on what the house is worth?
Get an independent valuation (in the US, a licensed appraisal) and agree in advance to be bound by it, or each get one and average them. A valuation costs a few hundred dollars; being 5% wrong on an $800,000 house costs one of you $20,000.