A house that was purchased during the marriage is presumed to be a marital asset.  As a marital asset, an equal division of its value is presumed to be equitable.   One option is to sell the house and split the proceeds.  However, if one person wants to keep the house, that person will need to buy the spouse’s share of the house. This can be done by trading assets (for example, A gives up her right to B’s retirement account in exchange for the marital home), or by refinancing and using the proceeds to buy the spouse’s share.  When one spouse keeps the marital home, the other spouse will need to be removed from the mortgage.  This can be done through refinancing.