The lawyer explained the conditions for maintaining the mortgage apartment during the divorce

Karabasheva: spouse can keep mortgage apartment while paying compensation

Fri, 03/13/2026 - 00:15

Photo: IZVESTIA/Yulia Mayorova

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In case of divorce, a mortgage apartment purchased in marriage is generally considered to be jointly acquired property and is subject to division between the spouses. However, in some cases, housing may remain in the ownership of one of them. Lawyer Fatima Karabasheva told Izvestia about this.

According to her, family law proceeds from the fact that all property acquired by spouses during marriage is considered common, unless proven otherwise.

"The exceptions are cases when property was acquired before marriage, received as a gift or inherited," Karabasheva explained.

She noted that if the apartment was bought before the marriage was registered, then it remains the personal property of the spouse for whom it was registered, and is not subject to division during the divorce.

Moreover, even if the mortgage apartment was acquired in marriage, the court may recognize it as the personal property of one of the spouses if it is proved that a significant part of the funds for the purchase or repayment of the loan were of personal origin.

"If one of the spouses can document that part of the funds for the initial payment or mortgage repayment was received as a gift from parents or from other personal sources, the court may take this into account when dividing the property," the lawyer said.

In addition, it is possible that the apartment remains with one spouse, and the other receives monetary compensation for his share.

"If the apartment is left to one spouse, compensation is paid to the second. The general principle is this: the market value of the apartment is taken at the time of the division, the mortgage balance is deducted from it, and the resulting amount is divided in half," the expert noted.

The lawyer also advises you to collect all the necessary documents in advance, including a loan agreement, payment schedule, bank statements and proof of the origin of funds, when preparing for the mortgage apartment. According to her, in some cases, it is more profitable for spouses to conclude a settlement agreement, since disputes over the division of real estate can last from six months to a year or more.