So we’re going through the divorce proceedings, and we had mediation a couple weeks ago, we’re both representing ourselves. We haven’t gotten the paperwork back from the mediator yet, but my understanding from the language used was that I am to do a cash out refinance on the house and pay her out half of the equity. With that said, I was talking to my banker today and he posed the question of how the court will determine that amount, since the refinancing and therefore appraisal won’t be until after the divorce is finalized, so the amount owed to her will have already been laid out in the divorce decree.

So, do they usually go off of an assessed value of the home or something like that? I’m sure it probably varies a bit based on location, but I’m in Iowa, US if that helps.