An asset, debt and investment. Your children's security. The container of life's memories. It is no wonder the family home is often the source of significant financial and emotional stress during a divorce.

The following tips will help you navigate through your divorce.

1. Ownership of and responsibility for the debt on your home are two separate items. Legal ownership or who holds title is reflected in a deed. The money borrowed to purchase the home is a debt, typically evidenced in a note and secured by a mortgage. Ownership and debt issues must both be resolved as part of the divorce. For example, although one spouse can transfer ownership to the other spouse, that transferring spouse is not automatically released from the debt.

2. Ownership and debt will likely remain unchanged while the divorce is pending. The court cannot order a home sold or home ownership transferred until the day the divorce is final. However, unlike litigation, in non adversarial methods of divorcing such as mediation and collaboration, couples regularly sell their home, transfer title between themselves or refinance a mortgage before they divorce. Such cooperation allows spouses to control the timing of their decision, possibly taking advantage of favorable housing and mortgage markets.

3. You and your spouse will likely continue residing in the home together while the divorce case is pending unless you both agree otherwise. In most situations, a court cannot order one spouse to vacate the family home until the divorce is final. Fearing negative consequences, often neither spouse will move out resulting in an unhealthy home environment. Fortunately, the mediation and collaborative divorce processes can provide an opportunity for the spouses to live separately without significant risk to either.

4. You and your spouse can address home ownership and debt issues creatively and positively. Courts will approve most agreements informed couples make. Especially in mediated and collaborative divorce cases, spouses often create options satisfying the most important needs of both spouses and their children.