New Divorce Issue: House is Hot Potato

Once upon a time, divorcing couples fought over who got the house. Now they fight over who doesn't get it.

'It's like, 'You take the house!' 'No, You take the house.' 'I don't want it, you take it,' '' Drew Sheridan, a divorce lawyer in Kendall. Fla., tells the Miami Herald.

Because of a steep decline in housing values fueled by the nation's mortgage foreclosure crisis, the marital home is a millstone around the necks of divorcing individuals rather than a coveted asset, the newspaper explains.

In some cases, couples are allowing the bank to foreclose, because neither can afford to pay the mortgage, or continuing to share ownership even after they split, in the hope that they can afford to sell at some point in the future, once the economy recovers.