Currently going thru the process. Wife filed for divorce but she doesn’t want the house. She wants to move out start over on her own. She wants half the equity in the home. We have 2 kids, one in college a couple hours away and another commuting to trade school in town while still living at home.

Wife is willing to make some concessions on the equity in the home since I will be housing the kiddos, one full time and the other during holidays/summers.

My question is, what is a reasonable amount to ask for since I’ll be providing housing for them? Are there any general rules of thumb or guidelines on what’s fair/reasonable?

(My house payment is going to go up by at least 50% since I have to refi to give her the equity she’s legally entitled to, but I don’t think that’s a negotiating point.)

Is there a rule/guesstimate along the lines of “for every month you provide a home and meals for each child, you should ask for $500 of equity” or something like that? The kids won’t stay with me forever but i would think they’d want to live at home for at least a few years after school to save up for places of their own. (And I have encouraged them to consider doing that.)

I don’t know where to start and would appreciate any help. Thank you!