Modern Divorce - The Do-Over For A Better You

Modern Divorce: Should you keep the house?

April 14, 2021 Attorney Billie Tarascio Season 2
Modern Divorce - The Do-Over For A Better You
Modern Divorce: Should you keep the house?
Show Notes Transcript

In this Modern Divorce podcast, Arizona family law attorney  Billie Tarascio and Virginia family law attorney Devon Slovensky break down the elements that you need to take into account when deciding whether to sell the family house and start new elsewhere - or if you can keep the house during and after the divorce process.

Each state has its different rules, but the same emotional elements will be at play in any state you divorce in. Some people trade a stake in the house for part of a 401(k) when splitting assets, but there will be differences in the way each asset grows over the years, and the tax implications.

This episode is specifically for anyone contemplating divorce and whether to stay or go: it's the all-important question and one that can have years of after effects on your life and finances.

Connect with Devon at legal@slovenskylaw.com and Billie at info@mymodernlaw.com

Billie Tarascio: [00:00:00]Hi there. This is Billie Tarascio with the modern divorce podcast. And today I am so excited to be talking about something so important and that's whether or not you should keep the house in divorce. And that is a discussion that my friend, attorney Devon Slavensky and I are going to be having, I said that correctly, right?

[00:00:49] Devon Slavensky: You did.

[00:00:50] Billie Tarascio: Fabulous. Okay, good. You never know with, with names, sometimes you get them, right. Sometimes you get them wrong. So Devon, you are also a divorce attorney. Albeit on the other side of [00:01:00] the country. 

[00:01:00]Devon Slavensky: I am, I am, we are not a community property state, but I think we've got a ton to talk about.

[00:01:06]Billie Tarascio: Well,Tell me a little bit about your practice and your background before we get into our, our topic for the day. 

[00:01:12] Devon Slavensky: Sure. So Billie, we have a slightly similar background. We both started, you know, trying to offer services, not necessarily to the high end of the market, but trying to make legal services affordable to others.

[00:01:23] So I started out legal aid. Then I operated a nonprofit called the Virginia nonprofit law center, which was a sliding scale law firm. And now I operate a family law firm and run it for Virginia and we do. 90 95% family law. And about half of our practice or more is divorce. 

[00:01:41] Billie Tarascio: Wonderful. Wonderful. So when people come to you and they're looking to get a divorce and they ask you, should I keep the house?

[00:01:49] What do you tell them? 

[00:01:52] Devon Slavensky: I say, we need to sit and talk because there are so many considerations and keeping the marital home, and it can become [00:02:00] such a knee-jerk reaction to say. Well, this is where I bet this is my home. I'm not going anywhere. And there are so many things. And in some ways it can be really tricky, challenging to keep the marital home, not from a financial perspective.

[00:02:14] And we can talk about that piece and that's a big consideration, but just from a logistical perspective as well. So when I talk to someone and they want to keep the marital home, my first thought is let's keep that as a goal right now, but let's keep our minds open so that we can continue to have some conversations down the road about what that's going to mean for you.

[00:02:33]Billie Tarascio: Yeah. I think you, you bring up a great point. There's a lot of practical considerations. There's a lot of emotional considerations. And then you brought up logistical considerations. Now, what do you mean by that? What are the logistical considerations? 

[00:02:47] Devon Slavensky: Sure. So, you know, in order to qualify in order to keep the marital home, it's not just a legal question.

[00:02:54] It's a financial question. And it's a financial question that deals with qualifying for new credit, [00:03:00] trying to figure out what your income is going to be. And that can be. Such, you know, a major issue in a divorce process because you may be looking for new work. You may be wondering how much spousal support you're going to get.

[00:03:11] You may be unsure about what your child support is going to be. And so you're going to have to go through, make sure that you're maintaining your credit throughout the process. So that's one of the first things I want to do with one of my clients. Looking to try to keep their marital home is let's take a look at that credit report, you know, are you on your spouse's credit?

[00:03:29] And they didn't pay their bills for awhile? Let's get you off that credit card. And, you know, we certainly don't want to take you off as an authorized user on another card, if that's helping you maintain your credit. So that's one of the first things that we look at. And you're going to have to start working with mortgage lenders early, and you're probably going to have to establish a good relationship with a mortgage lender, because they're going to have to be willing to run a bunch of different scenarios for you.

[00:03:53] If you're not going to be if you're going to be dependent on some spousal support or child support down the line, because we're not [00:04:00] necessarily going to know the final numbers early on in the process. 

[00:04:03] Billie Tarascio: Right. And that goes for whether or not you're paying spousal support or child support or whether or not you're receiving child support or spousal support, either way, your income is going to be impacted if child support or spousal maintenance are an issue in your divorce.

[00:04:18] So it can be tough to convince of you know, a mortgage broker to refinance the house. 

[00:04:24]Devon Slavensky: Absolutely. 

[00:04:25] Billie Tarascio: Do you think that people have to refinance in order to keep the house? 

[00:04:30] Devon Slavensky: In Virginia, you don't necessarily under the statute have to refinance, but I have never had a divorce judge not require the refinance as a practical matter.

[00:04:41] So it's not in the statute. And if you're going to not litigate your divorce, there's no attorney that would represent your spouse that would allow them to stay on the mortgage process. 

[00:04:52]Billie Tarascio: Yeah. So let's talk about that.  I know you're in Virginia and I'm in Arizona and you're not in a community property state, but whether [00:05:00] you're in a separate property state or community property state, you're essentially doing the same analysis, which is what do we have for assets, assets, marital assets, and how do we divide them?

[00:05:09] And it doesn't necessarily mean dividing each asset, but the total assets have to be divided. And so sometimes when people say, Hey, I want to keep the house. I'm going to keep the house and all the equity, and I'm going to trade for the retirement funds and he can have the retirement and I'll keep the house.

[00:05:24] What do you think about that? 

[00:05:27] Devon Slavensky: [00:05:27] Oh, Billie, it can be really tempting and it may be a great idea. You know, sometimes, you know, particularly when you've got some teenagers and you know, they're about to go off to college and you just don't want to uproot them in their last high school years. I get the attachment to keeping the marital home and, you know, maybe making a trade off, but you know, my thought and I'm not a financial advisor, but my thought is that, you know, retirement is hard to come by. It tends to grow faster because it's in the stock market and your eggs aren't all in one basket. And you know, we're talking about taking significant, a [00:06:00] significant portion of your assets and saying, I'm going to keep them in this one asset that may not grow quite as well as retirement asset.

[00:06:07] And when I sell this, you know, I'm going to get some cash. It's going to be tempting to say. And I'm a big fan of not doing a trade off for keeping, you know, the home and the attendant equity, as opposed to keeping the retirement. I don't know how you feel about it. 

[00:06:22] Billie Tarascio: [00:06:22] I mean, I think that these are, these are tough decisions and there's pros and cons on one hand, keeping the house and the equity in the house and the growth on that equity is tax-free. And your money that you get out of retirement is taxable income. So if, if we're really making the decision based on logic and practicality and what's best for you, I don't have any problem with that decision. The problem that I see most often is that the person who initiated the divorce is not the person who has the attachment to the house, but the person who is [00:07:00] getting served with the divorce paperwork is trying to hold onto their old life.

[00:07:06] And the house is the easiest way and the thing they can fight for because you can't fight and say, no, I don't want to divorce. You can't divorce me. You can fight for your house and your life. And often it feels very symbolic of, of what they're losing. 

[00:07:22]Devon Slavensky: [00:07:22] Absolutely. Absolutely well there's, you know, so you touched a lot on the emotional aspect and that's a really huge thing, but I just want to put a little asterisk there on the tax consequences too.

[00:07:32] And you know, if you've built a lot of equity, you've got to start thinking about capital gains too, and what's going to happen to your, you know capital gains tax. Are you looking at more than a quarter million dollars? And that's when you start talking about tax to a tax advisor about what you're going to do and how you're going to plan the sale of the home, whether it's now or later.

[00:07:51] Billie Tarascio: [00:07:51] Absolutely. I mean, if you were in a position where your spouse is emotionally attached to the retirement, let's say it's a, usually [00:08:00] it's somebody who worked for that money. So they worked, they put money into their retirement and they emotionally do not like the idea of splitting it. If you can get the same amount of equity in your house, it may be a good call.

[00:08:14] Now the next piece I think of the analysis is can I afford it? And then can I qualify to refi if I have to refi? So let's talk about the, can I afford it? How do you help your clients determine whether or not they can afford to keep the marital home? 

[00:08:34] Devon Slavensky:  And the only way to do it is you've got to get down there and you've got to crunch the numbers.

[00:08:37] You've got to look at the historic payments. You know, it wouldn't hurt to get somebody to come out and inspect the home. See if there's some latent issues. I mean, you don't want to get hit with the HVAC bill. You know, when you're on a tight budget, you know, you don't want to have to replace that system six months after you get divorced, because you may not have the liquidity to take that hit.

[00:08:57] So, you need to understand exactly what the [00:09:00] utilities are. You need to understand What those expenses are and make sure you're prepared for that. You know, are you, are you going to have a pool? What's the pool maintenance costs, you know, keep all of these things in mind. And I think, you know, you have to be aware of the HOA fees.

[00:09:13] Can those go up? How much have those been going up a year? So not just thinking about what are the expenses now, but how, how are those expenses growing in the future? 

[00:09:23] Billie Tarascio: [00:09:23] It's true. A house can be a massive financial liability. You know, if your, if your roof leaks and you need a new roof. You could be looking at a 10, 15, $20,000 project.

[00:09:35] Are you prepared for that? Is that something that you want to want to take on after a divorce? 

[00:09:41]Devon Slavensky: Yeah. So, you know, that's, that's a big piece of it, you know, can you afford it from that perspective? You know, do you need all that space? I mean, I think that's another consideration when there's not another body in the home, you know, do you need all of that?

[00:09:54] You know, you're paying for extra air conditioning, electricity, all, all of those expenses and you know, perhaps a [00:10:00] lot of latent defects that, you know, may have to sort of crept up. And if you know, you were having tension in your marriage for a couple of years, leading up to that, that may not have been your focus.

[00:10:10] You may not have realized that there were some things that needed to happen, that you guys were kind of neglecting for a few years. 

[00:10:15] Billie Tarascio: I think that that is such a great point. You know, when you go from having, let's say a family of five in a house, and then you go to having a family of four, and you have your children half the time.

[00:10:27] Now you really get to analyze, you know, is this the best space for me, other things that I ask people to look at are, you know, how convenient is this house to you? You know, in proximity to where your children go to school and where you go to work. And if you have kids. You're going to, you're entering a phase of a single Parenthood now.

[00:10:46] And so if you can figure out a way to get close enough to the school where your kids can walk or where it's easier for you to be a single parent, that's something that I really encourage people to, to consider. 

[00:10:59] Devon Slavensky: [00:10:59] I think that's a great [00:11:00] point. I had never thought about that. Being able to walk to school and that's just such a relief to a single parent, you know, being close to the bus stop, you know, all of those practical considerations are, are important.

[00:11:12] Billie Tarascio: [00:11:12] I think the biggest thing and you and I completely agree is like the biggest thing is that our client be set up for success, whatever that success looks like. And, it sounds like you generally try to dissuade people from keeping that home. 

[00:11:26] Devon Slavensky: [00:11:26] Well, not necessarily. And I've helped a lot of people keep the home, but I think, you know, it becomes such an emotional decision, you know?

[00:11:34] And like you said, at first, you know, it, it is the little piece that you feel like you have control over. And if you're getting served with divorce papers, you're probably not the one who's left the home. The person serving is probably the one, well, I take that back. But you know, normally the person who staying in the home yeah.

[00:11:49] Is the one who's not done with the marriage. And it is the one thing you feel comfortable with. And it is about fighting to preserve your, what you perceive to be your life at that point.  When we start to distance [00:12:00] ourselves from that, and sort of look at the bigger picture, sometimes it's not the right picture.

[00:12:04] And I've seen clients really, really spread themselves thin to maintain a home that ultimately caused them a lot of stress two or three years down the line. 

[00:12:16]Billie Tarascio: [00:12:16] Totally true. It's it's the concept of how do we avoid our clients being, you know,house poor or cash poor and maybe like rid themselves of, of that so that they can kind of make decisions based on the new reality.

[00:12:30] The other, the other issue is what happens when people start dating new people. And how does having the marital home affect that? 

[00:12:40] Devon Slavensky: [00:12:40] Oh, that's a great point. That's a great point. You know, I really discouraged my clients to date  during the separation process. Technically, you know, it's permitted after a year in Virginia.

[00:12:51]But I think it's just a bad idea. It can really mess with the dynamics with the children in the home and yeah. I mean, keeping the marital home, are [00:13:00] you going to want to bring somebody back to that home where you have memories with your spouse?  It invites the person you do end up in a new relationship with To think about your previous marriage and you're trying to move on with your life.

[00:13:11] And so, you know, I think that's a big consideration too, and that was a very frank discussion I had with a client earlier this week, you know, are they going to want to, they want to get re married in the future, not to a specific person, but they know they're not done. You know, with having relationships with people, we had to sit and think, you know, you really might want to bring a new wife into this home in the future.

[00:13:31] And I thought. Absolutely not let me reevaluate this decision. 

[00:13:35] Billie Tarascio: [00:13:35] Right. I think this is huge. And also if you have children, you know, this was mom and dad's bedroom, do you really want this to be, you know, mom and Dave's bedroom or, you know, dad and Jill's new bedroom and how much harder is it on them?

[00:13:53] You know, they, they, I think kind of benefit from a fresh start too. So it's not like we're in our [00:14:00] marital home, but mom's not here or dad's not here instead. You're in a place where it's like, listen, our family's restructuring and we're all getting a new start. I almost think it's better for the kids. And I'm no child psychologist, but I almost think it might be better for the kids to have that fresh start just like mom and dad.

[00:14:19]Devon Slavensky: [00:14:19] I think that's a really great perspective as well. 

[00:14:22] Billie Tarascio: [00:14:22] Well, so what about the other, edge of the sword, which is why are we going to upend our child's lives? Why don't we let them have the life they've always had? Why do we have to change everything? What do you think about that?

[00:14:33] Devon Slavensky: [00:14:33] Well, I think that makes a lot of sense, at least in the beginning, you know what, I'm not a huge fan of, you know, we're getting divorced. Oh my goodness. We've got to get the house on the market right away. I mean, that can occasionally be a financial reality, but, you know, I don't think that's a good solution for anyone. We try to time home sales. So they go with the summer for the most part. And if you've got kids in the high school, I have plenty of clients, to decide they're not going to sell the home, until, you know, the children are off to [00:15:00] college or, you know, they finished high school.

[00:15:01] And I think that can make a lot of sense. My 2 cents is, you know, I think younger children can be really resilient to in these kinds of circumstances. I think when you're talking about changing school systems for older children, that can be really disruptive, that can be really disheartening for them.

[00:15:17]But I think when you're talking about, you know, younger children, Five and younger, they tend to adapt, you know, fairly quickly. It can be really rough at first, but, you know, they're able to make that change. 

[00:15:28] Billie Tarascio: [00:15:28] I think you're, you're completely right. And, and the most important thing is that you make the best decision for you and your family based on practical objective, rational issues, as opposed to feelings.

[00:15:41]And then the other thing is I like to encourage people to do like a plan, like a short-term plan and a longer term plan. It sounds like you do that to where you really want to get people stabilized before they make major moves. Is that right? 

[00:15:56] Devon Slavensky: [00:15:56] Absolutely. Absolutely. And we call it the pendant day period [00:16:00] here.

[00:16:00] I'm sure you have a term for it in Arizona. But yeah, that's what we're just trying to establish some sort of temporary sense of normalcy allow you to get, you know, all of your thoughts with you and at the beginning of that period, I just want you to feel comfortable that, you know, what's going to happen.

[00:16:16] You know what you're going to have coming in on a monthly basis on a temporary basis. You're going to know what your income is. You're going to know who is responsible for what, on a temporary basis. So we can stop and sit back and assess. 

[00:16:30] Billie Tarascio: [00:16:30] That sounds really wise. So are you telling people to stay in the house together or when you have a client who's sitting in front of you who says, look, I got to get a divorce.

[00:16:39] I need to know whether or not I should stay in the home. He won't leave or if I should move out, what do you tell them? 

[00:16:46] Devon Slavensky: [00:16:46] I try to get people to stay in the house. Now, the problem is, is that we have to have a separation period in Virginia. So, you know, we can have some exceptions to that, but for the most part, you really do need to be separate.

[00:16:58] I like my [00:17:00] client, if there's not, you know, domestic violence going on, I like my client to stay in the home because they're clearly not totally ready for the divorce yet. If they're both still in the home, they're not over it. And the person who leaves the home first, well, they're still going to maintain their ability to claim that property and claim that equity, you know, and I think there's a misnomer out there that if you walk away from the house, you're just walking away from all of that equity.

[00:17:25] And I think it's really important to get in front of that. And make sure people don't understand that, but it's really hard to get a judge later to order you back in the home once you leave. So if you're going to leave the home, you need to understand that you may not be able to come back to that house and you have to be really comfortable with the decision you're making because it's somewhat irreversible.

[00:17:45] Billie Tarascio: [00:17:45] Yeah. I, I completely agree with you. Like once you leave and move out, you're probably not going back in, but moving out and starting over means buying a lot. It means spending a lot of money to set up your new house. At the same time, you're spending money on [00:18:00] lawyers. It can really lead people to a position of, of a cash crunch.

[00:18:05]Devon Slavensky: [00:18:05] Absolutely. That's definitely a big issue and that's why it's always great. You know, if you're able to sit down and talk to your spouse about this and you know, you guys can, you know, come up with a separation agreement, you don't have to go through the litigation process. You don't have to try to get one person forced out of the home.

[00:18:21] You know, that's a better result for everyone. 

[00:18:24] Billie Tarascio: [00:18:24] What about abandonment of the property and abandonment of the bills. Like if you move out and you set up your, you set yourself up with your own house, are you still responsible for paying for the marital home? 

[00:18:36]Devon Slavensky: [00:18:36] Well, you're legally responsible for it. We do in Virginia.

[00:18:39] So if there's a dispute as to, who's going to take care of that, we go and we start a hearing and, and these parents take precedent on the course docket. So we can normally get in within a few weeks and have the judge decide who's going to pay the bills pending the divorce. But if you have a clear definition of financially advantaged party, You know, someone who clearly makes, you know, 80 plus percent of the income and then [00:19:00] you have someone who's not contributing, , or isn't contributing in a financial manner to the household, or is the lower income maker in the home, you're going to need to go and pay all those bills for the home, pending the divorce, if you decide to leave. So you're going to be paying for two households as soon as you leave the home.

[00:19:17] Billie Tarascio: [00:19:17] So it sounds like it's the same in Arizona is true. There's a lot of risk. If you, if you leave the home that you still may be financially responsible for both. And we just don't know which way that's going to go. And then sometimes people can make claims when they get divorced, where reimbursement for the payments they've made on the marital home if there's not an agreement. So it's just, it's very, very risky and it's a tough decision and not one that you want to make lightly and not one that you want to make without talking to an attorney first. 

[00:19:48] Devon Slavensky: [00:19:48] I agree. Absolutely, absolutely. A lot of different factors to consider emotional consequences, practical considerations for your children, financial consequence, consequences, a lot [00:20:00] of pieces of play.

[00:20:01] Billie Tarascio: [00:20:01] So we touched a little bit earlier on the refinance concept, but let's say somebody's trading retirement for equity. Why would they even have to consider refinancing at that point? 

[00:20:13] Devon Slavensky: [00:20:13] Well, assuming that you're both on the title for the home. So one, you know, there's going to be a general expectation, the person, you know, the other party, who's not keeping the home, they're not going to be able to find it, you know, get a mortgage. And so their attorney's going to protect them to make sure that there'll be able to buy a home after this transaction's over. Cause they're not going to be able to get approved for mortgage loan readily, if they're still okay. On the, on the mortgage, even if you're in a contract that says I'm going to take care of all the payments.

[00:20:39] So they're going to want to see that from that perspective, get taken care of you know, but for, from a financial perspective you're gonna need to buy out some of their equity in the home and you will have had this equity that's been built up, during the course of the marriage and you're going to need to pay for some of that.

[00:20:55] And buy them out of their interest, just as if this were a business [00:21:00] partnership. 

[00:21:01] Billie Tarascio: [00:21:01] Yeah. So there's, there's two very interesting things that are important for people to consider. There's are you on the title and are you on the mortgage and you might be on both. You might be on one and not the other or vice versa.

[00:21:15] So the title controls who technically owns the property, at least in Arizona and a married couple can own it jointly, or one party can own a piece of property that both of you live in. Is that the same in Virginia? Absolutely. Absolutely. Do you guys have tenants by the entirety and Arizona? I think so, or joint ownership with right of survivorship, which is tenants in the charity, right?

[00:21:41] Both people are owning completely this piece of property. And then the second question is, you know, even if both people own the piece of property completely. The loan may be in one person's name. Now, if the loan is in your name only, then you don't have to refinance anything [00:22:00] because the loan is only in your name.

[00:22:03] If the loan is in your name and your spouse's name, what you are describing is like the, the creditors only give each individual person so much money that they are able to borrow. And so even if I trust that my spouse, my ex spouse is going to pay the mortgage. And so my credit is going to be fine. I may be unable to go buy a house myself because I don't have enough available credit if I don't get off of the loan that's being, which is eating up the amount of available credit that I, so this is a complicated process that not everybody understands. Can you, can you think of a different way to explain that? 

[00:22:38] Devon Slavensky: [00:22:38] No, I think you explained it really well. And I think we should take it to the next level.

[00:22:42] And the question is what if you don't have something to buy out, you know? So you may be the, you know, so you wouldn't have to do a refinance necessarily if you're the only person on the title, but what if you need to be buy the other person out and you don't have another asset. So you're still going to have to refinance in [00:23:00] that perspective.

[00:23:00] And you're going to have to refinance with some extra money to pay them out. And you're gonna have to increase that payment. I've done that recently for another client, even more challenging financially and we're able to pull it off, but a lot more work and a lot more planning. 

[00:23:13] Billie Tarascio: [00:23:13] It is, it's not a simple transaction, your divorce, and there's a lot of phases to it.

[00:23:19] There's a lot of planning. There's a lot of, what do I do right now? And then there's okay. Well, what do, what, how do I set myself up for the, for the easiest, most successful path forward, given a different life? You know, that I, that I maybe haven't had a whole lot of time to plan. And then how long does it usually take to figure out what spousal maintenance and child support are going to be in Virginia?

[00:23:41]Devon Slavensky: [00:23:41] So you'll get a temporary award at the pendent daily day hearing. If we set a pending day, hearing, which is very typical, most divorces are going to have a pendant daily day hearing. If they're contested, if you don't come to an agreement right away, right? At the beginning of the process, it's going to start contested and you'll end up with a temporary orders hearing or a pendant daily day hearing.

[00:24:00] [00:24:00] And that pendant daily day order is probably going to be in effect for 10 to 12 months before the case finally gets set to trial. It often will resolve before then, but you're looking at probably 10 to 12 months from that first hearing. So a divorce cycle at least 15 months from filing, you know, to finalize it.

[00:24:19] Billie Tarascio: [00:24:19] Yeah. Wow. It takes a long time to get divorced in Virginia. 

[00:24:26] Devon Slavensky: [00:24:26] What's your cycle in Arizona? \

[00:24:28] Billie Tarascio: [00:24:28] I mean, you can get divorced as quickly as 60 days. And average,  in our office in average is eight months. So of course some are longer and some are shorter and it depends on if you agree and if you don't, but we have thrown out all this information at people.

[00:24:41] If people are listening and they're contemplating a divorce, where can they start? What's a framework they can use to think about how to make this decision. 

[00:24:52] Devon Slavensky: [00:24:52] I think one of the most helpful things  before you start moving in the direction of a divorce is try to understand your financial [00:25:00] picture. I mean, having that clarity before you put yourself in an irreversible situation is going to be so valuable to you. You're not gonna feel as panicked, you know, as you're making decisions down the line, if you know what the income is into the household, if we know what the expenses are, it's not going to be as much of a shock.

[00:25:19]When you're starting to put this plan together, if you kind of know what you're working with, and I think that's the first thing is , can you find the old tax returns? Do you know what the income is? Do you know what their income is? Do you know what your income is? Do you understand what the expenses are in the household?

[00:25:33] And if you have that framework going into it, you're going to be able to think a lot more clearly and strategic. 

[00:25:38] Billie Tarascio: [00:25:38] Okay. So it sounds like some good old fashioned budget forecasting. 

[00:25:43]Devon Slavensky: [00:25:43] I think you're absolutely right. 

[00:25:44]Billie Tarascio: [00:25:44] And that's probably a place to start, you know, what's, what's my budget now. What's my budget going to be, what is the possible low end and the possible high end?

[00:25:54] And then, you know, do I want the house? And if I want the house can I afford [00:26:00] the house with my best case scenario and my worst case scenario, and it's okay to not make this decision right away, which is another point that you made that I think is just so spot on, like this decision can and maybe should be delayed.

[00:26:13]Devon Slavensky: [00:26:13] I think so. I think so it should not be an knee-jerk decision. I think it's so important. Not. Not get this idea, right at the beginning, I'm absolutely keeping the house come hell or high water, or, you know, we're going to get this house in the market in 15 days, whether they like it or not, you know, neither one of those approaches is the right approach.

[00:26:31] We've got to find a temporary solution and then let's find a more permanent solution a couple months down the road. 

[00:26:37] Billie Tarascio: [00:26:37] I think that's fantastic advice, Devon. Thank you so much for coming on the show. 

[00:26:42]Devon Slavensky: [00:26:42] Thanks for having me, Billie. It's a pleasure. 

[00:26:44] Billie Tarascio: [00:26:44] If people want to contact you, where can they find you?

[00:26:47] Devon Slavensky: [00:26:47] They can find me online at my website slovenskylaw.com. Shoot us an email at legal@slovinskylaw.com. And we'll get back to you really quickly. 

[00:26:55] Billie Tarascio: [00:26:55] Thank you so much, Devon. We'll talk to you again soon. 

[00:26:57]Devon Slavensky: [00:26:57] Thanks Billie.