Have both homes appraised before divorce

Q After 15 years of marriage, my husband and I are getting divorced. We have no children together, but my daughter was 10 when we married. We each had mortgage-free homes before we married, which we still own, although mine now has a small mortgage that we took out to help my daughter pay for college. I have been paying it back from my earnings.

We never merged our finances. He paid for his house and I paid for mine. We live in his house in Winchester during most of the year. I am a landscape designer, and I have created and maintained extensive gardens in both places. My beach house on the coast of Maine is really a cottage where we stay during the summer. We recently renovated the kitchen and all three bathrooms in Winchester. My cottage was to be next.

My husband earns much more than I and has added well over $1 million to his retirement account during our marriage. I earn enough to pay my expenses but not enough to save for retirement or to pay my share of college. He offered to share what he added to his retirement with me if I agree we each keep our own houses and walk away. He says that is the best I will do in court.

Is he right? A You need to know what he is asking you to walk away from. You need to value the houses. If you can agree on a joint appraiser, hire one qualified real estate appraiser to value both houses. The value should be as of the date of marriage and the current value. That way, you can calculate the increase during the marriage. Because you and your husband lived in both homes during the marriage, and you added sweat equity to both, the judge should find that the properties were woven into the fabric of the marriage and, at the very least, divide the increase in equity in the homes at the time of divorce.

If your husband refuses to jointly appraise, that should tell you he is trying to get away with something. Hire your own appraiser to appraise both houses at both dates. Then exchange appraisals. Do not be surprised if his appraisal shows a loss in value or a small increase to his home and a larger increase to yours. Winchester homes steadily increase for many reasons, including proximity to Boston, train access and good schools. The recent renovations only add value. If his value is low, offer to buy his house for the value he says it is now worth — you can always turn around and sell it for the real value.