The disposition of a home during divorce proceedings depends on whether the home is considered marital or separate property.
If the home was purchased during the marriage, it is almost always considered marital property regardless of whose name the deed and/or mortgage are in. The only exception is if one spouse used his or her own separate property (ex. money from before the marriage, inheritance obtained during the marriage, etc.) to purchase the home, AND the home is only in that spouse’s name. Even if one spouse did use his/her own separate property to purchase the house, if the deed is in both spouse’s name, the house is marital property.
If the house is considered marital property, the default position in North Carolina is that the property value should be split equally between the spouses. This can be accomplished by selling the home and splitting the proceeds or one spouse may be able to buy out the home by paying the other spouse his or her portion of the existing equity.