The starting point is the home's fair market value, established by an appraisal or a hand-reviewed valuation rather than an online estimate, since the number both lawyers work from directly affects the equalization figure each spouse is owed.
Debts secured against the home, such as the remaining mortgage balance, seller closing costs of roughly 4 to 6 percent, and money one spouse put in before the marriage or relationship began are typically accounted for before the remaining equity is split, which is why the final division is rarely a simple fifty-fifty of the raw sale price.
Getting an accurate, defensible home value early is what keeps that calculation from being contested later. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.