Selling the house or buying out your partner after a separation in Flanders
Breaking up is hard enough. The decision about the home is best taken calmly, with the same figures for both of you. Here you read what you can choose, what it costs and who has to sign.
After a separation you can sell the home together, one partner can buy out the other, or you remain joint owners for the time being (notaris.be). On a buyout, former spouses and former legal cohabitants in Flanders pay 1 % division duty (verdeelrecht) on the full value of the home, de facto cohabitants 2.5 % (Flemish Tax Administration, checked on 28 October 2026). If one of you takes over the loan, the bank has to agree to it.
What is your home worth?
First see what your home is worth. Then start preparing early and without obligation: free, for as long as you like.
Everything starts with the purchase deed and with your status: married, legally cohabiting or de facto cohabiting. Legal and de facto cohabitants own according to the shares in the deed, for example each for half.
For married couples, the matrimonial property regime also counts. A home bought during a marriage under the statutory regime usually belongs to the joint estate, even if only one name is in the deed, and that estate is in principle divided in halves. Your notary checks what applies to you.
Did one of you put personal money into the home, for example from a gift or an inheritance, or pay more for a renovation? Then you can deviate from an equal division (notaris.be).
As long as you are married or legally cohabiting, you decide together about the family home, even if only one of you is the owner (notaris.be). De facto cohabitants do not have that legal protection.
Part 2
Which choices do you have with the home after a separation?
You have four options (notaris.be). Which one fits depends on what each of you wants, on what you can carry and on what the bank allows.
Sell together: the net proceeds after repaying the loan and the costs are divided according to your shares.
Buy out: one of you takes over the share of the other, for a buyout sum based on the current market value.
Remain joint owners, for example until the children are older. Then record clear arrangements on costs, use and the future, if necessary at the notary; an agreement to remain joint owners lasts for a maximum of 5 years (notaris.be).
Let it temporarily if the market is not favourable for a while. The rent can cover the loan; agree who does the management and how you divide the rent.
Part 3
How does a sale go if you sell together?
You sell together, so you both sign the sale agreement (compromis) and the deed and decide together on the asking price and which offer you accept. You can sell yourselves, with a realtor or via Biddit, the online public sale led by a notary (notaris.be).
The outstanding loan comes off the sale price first. What remains after the costs is divided according to your shares, unless you agree otherwise (notaris.be).
Also agree who repays the loan and carries the fixed costs until the sale, and whether whoever stays on in the home pays the other a compensation. Put that in writing: it prevents disputes at the division.
Part 4
When do you pay 1 % and when 2.5 % division duty?
If one partner takes over the home, you pay division duty (verdeelrecht), also known as the misery tax. It is calculated on the full current value of the home, not only on the share you take over (notaris.be, April 2025). The ordinary rate in Flanders is 2.5 %.
Division duty is a regional tax. If the home is in Brussels or Wallonia, ask your notary which rate applies there.
This is how it works in Flanders (Flemish Tax Administration, position of March 2026; notaris.be):
Former spouses pay 1 % if the division takes place after the divorce or takes effect through it. If the buyout happens before the divorce, ask your notary which rate applies.
Former legal cohabitants pay 1 % if on the day of the termination they had lived together legally for at least one uninterrupted year and the division takes place within three years after that termination.
De facto cohabitants pay the ordinary rate of 2.5 %.
Part 5
How do you calculate a buyout of your ex-partner?
The buyout sum starts from the current market value and your shares (notaris.be). Whoever takes over has to be able to pay that sum and carry the loan alone. The bank has to agree to the departing partner leaving the loan.
A simplified example from 2026: you each own half, the home is worth € 400,000 and € 160,000 is still outstanding on the loan. Partner A takes over the home. The notary's fee and the costs of the notary and the bank come on top; ask them for an estimate.
Net value: € 400,000 minus € 160,000 is € 240,000.
Buyout sum for partner B: half of the net value, so € 120,000.
Loan: partner A takes over the full € 160,000 alone, if the bank agrees.
Division duty if you were married or legally cohabiting: 1 % of € 400,000, so € 4,000.
Division duty if you were de facto cohabiting: 2.5 % of € 400,000, so € 10,000.
Part 6
How do you set the value of the home together?
The value determines the buyout sum and the division duty, so it helps if you start from the same figure. If you cannot agree, a surveyor can value the home; the notary can also help to reach a takeover price (notaris.be).
Also look at the condition of the home. An honest EPC (energy performance certificate), the planning information and a list of works still to be done make the conversation about the value more concrete.
A free valuation based on the address, such as Hoobler's, gives you both a neutral first starting point. It is not an official valuation: the value in the deed you agree with the notary.
If you choose a sale, the Hoobler sales guide helps you choose between selling yourself, with help or with a realtor, without one having to convince the other.
Part 7
What if your ex will not cooperate?
Nobody can be forced to remain a co-owner. If you cannot work it out, you can ask the court for the division (notaris.be).
In a divorce on the grounds of irretrievable breakdown, the court appoints a notary-liquidator, who tries to reach a settlement between you. In a divorce by mutual consent, you record the arrangements on the home yourselves in the settlement deed (notaris.be).
During the proceedings the court can take provisional measures, for example on who stays on in the family home (notaris.be). A lawyer or a mediator can help to get the conversation going again.
Part 8
What about the reduced rate and the renovation obligation after a separation?
If you bought the home at the reduced rate for the sole owner-occupied home, you do not have to keep living together. The rate can be retained if one partner takes over the share of the other and remains registered there as the sole occupant (Flemish Tax Administration).
The renovation obligation for homes with label E or F does not apply to a transfer between co-owners if at least one of them keeps their main residence there, as with a buyout after a separation (Flemish government). If a renovation obligation was already running, it continues to apply.
Does the partner who leaves want to buy a new home? For the 2 % rate you may not be the full owner of another home, or you commit to selling it within 2 years after the deed (Flemish Tax Administration). If you are still a co-owner of the former home, have your notary check what that means for you.
Frequently asked questions
Answered briefly.
How much division duty do you pay on a buyout after a divorce?
In Flanders 1 % on the full value of the home, if the division takes place after or through the divorce (Flemish Tax Administration). For a home of € 400,000 that is € 4,000. On top of that come the notary's fee and costs.
Do cohabitants also pay 1 % division duty?
Legal cohabitants do, if they had lived together legally for at least one uninterrupted year and the division takes place within three years after the end of the cohabitation. De facto cohabitants pay 2.5 % (notaris.be).
Can my ex block the sale of our house?
Not permanently. Nobody can be forced to remain a co-owner: if you cannot work it out, you can ask the court for the division (notaris.be). As long as you are married or legally cohabiting, you do decide together about the family home.
Does the bank have to agree if I buy out my ex?
Yes, if you take over the loan alone. Whoever takes over has to be able to carry the buyout sum and the loan alone (notaris.be). Check your bank's agreement before you fix the buyout sum.
Who may stay on in the house during the separation?
You are best to make arrangements about that together. If that does not work, the court can take provisional measures during the proceedings on who stays in the family home (notaris.be). For de facto cohabitants that legal protection does not exist.
Is an online valuation enough for a buyout?
As a starting point for your conversation, yes; as an official value, no. The value in the deed you agree with the notary; if you cannot agree, a surveyor can value the home.