A court has the power to order the sale of jointly owned property and divide the proceeds equally. However, if property is titled only in the name of one spouse, then generally a court canNOT order one spouse to transfer the property to the other spouse. However, there are three exceptions when a court can do so:

First, a court can transfer an interest in a pension, retirement account, or other type of deferred compensation from one spouse to the other if doing so will render an equitable result.

Second, a court can transfer title to real property that is jointly owned by the parties and used as their principal place of residence. Despite courts having the authority to transfer property in this manner, it does not often happen unless the real property is the marital home and has no mortgage.

However, what is likely to happen in this scenario, and if the party that would be receiving the marital home also has residential custody of the couple’s minor children, the court could instead order the custodial parent to have “use and possession” of the marital home for up to three years after the date of divorce and then order it sold.

And third, a court can transfer “family use personal property” from one spouse to the other. “Family use personal property” is personal property such as furniture or a car, that is owned by one or both spouses and used primarily for the benefit of the children.