Post Divorce 1031 Exchange

[Brook Young]

Hello BP Community - 

My ex husband and I co-own a rental property (we are on both the title and the note) in San Diego. We are about to put that property on the market and split the proceeds. My questions are ... 

1. Do I qualify for a 1031 exchange? Some of my research led me to believe that perhaps the joint purchase by a married couple (tax entity A) would disqualify me from the exchange, because the new purchase would be solely in my name (potentially tax entity B).

2. How is the amount of the exchange determined? Is it based on the half the sale amount or based on how we divide the proceeds (if we are not doing a 50/50 split).

3. Do the 1031 exchange rules allow me to co-invest on a new property with another person?

4. Based on my research, it seems like I can purchase a new property as long as it's equal or greater value. Is there a rule on how much greater? Is seems like it's allowable to exchange a residential investment for a commercial property or a land investment. Is that correct?

Thanks for your patience with all the questions! There's a lot of contradictory information out there.  

[Dave Foster]

@Brook Young Your divorce decree will be the overriding document that defines the % split.  Using that court decree you will sell and you can do a 1031 exchange on your portion.  You're responsibilities to defer all tax will be for you to purchase at least as much as your net sale (your allocation %) and use all of the proceeds in the purchase (again the portion allocated to you).  There is no maximum value.  You can purchase with anyone else as long as you are taking title yourself to that much real estate.

Your soon to  be ex may also exchange his portion independently.  Or he may take the cash and assume the tax liability for his sale.