Couple who divided house with makeshift wall officially divorced

Marital property division can be one of the most complex issues in a divorce. Property division can be especially complex when the spouses have been married a long time and have accumulated substantial assets together. A recent high assets divorce provides a rather stark example of how difficult dividing property can be.

The divorce began about six years ago. In 2005, the wife forced her husband out of their marital home. In August 2005, a family court judge ordered that the husband could move back into the house if he divided it into two units. This required constructing a physical wall in the house.

The wife appealed the 2005 court order requiring the wall. About one year later, an appeals court allowed the wall to be constructed. The wall divided their three-story dwelling by separating the first-story living room from the staircase leading upstairs. The wall went up in December 2006, and the couple has been living together, yet apart, since that time.

The divorce was then delayed due to a change in the law and a bankruptcy filing. Now, after five years, a judge gave his final ruling in the divorce case. The judge ordered that the couple sell the now divided house and two other properties and split the profits between the two spouses. In addition, the husband, the former owner of a factory, was ordered to pay the wife a lump sum of about $1.5 million plus $6,000 per month. However, he can keep several other buildings he owns.

The wife has indicated that she will appeal the judge’s ruling, which could delay the sale of the home indefinitely.

Source: NPR, “NYC Couple Who Split House With Wall Get Divorce,” 4/28/2011