Normally, the property that serves as the family home belongs to both spouses – either 50/50 or in unequal shares. In the event of divorce, this often leads to disputes as to which of the two spouses/owners may continue to use the property. 

In these cases, it is highly advisable to dissolve the shared ownership between the spouses, firstly to resolve the often far-reaching conflict and secondly because there are numerous tax advantages: If you include the cancellation of the shared ownership in the divorce agreement/decree confirmed by the court, you save the stamp duty (1.5%) that is normally payable on all dissolutions of shared ownership, and there is also no real estate transfer tax (between 8 and 13%) as it is not a purchase/sale.