Spousal buyout mortgages.
Keep the home, settle the split, and untangle the debts — financed up to 95% of value on qualifying files, across BC and Alberta.
A separation forces a brutal question onto the family home: sell it into a market you didn't choose, or find a way for one of you to keep it. The financing exists for the second answer — a buyout structured as a purchase can reach up to 95% of the home's value on homes to $500,000 — and far beyond the 80% refinance ceiling at any insurable price — but it lives on paperwork: the agreement, the appraisal, the support math, and one income where two used to qualify. We handle these files with the discretion they deserve, alongside your lawyer, on your timeline.
Start with the arithmetic: the Spousal Buyout Calculator turns your agreement’s split — percent or dollars — into both sides’ shares, the cheque, and the new mortgage, before anything gets locked in.
Both sides of the split, financed properly.
One spouse keeps the home and finances the other's share out — the core file, structured as a purchase where possible for stronger leverage.
Equalization payments and settlement obligations funded through the home's equity.
Shared cards and loans paid out in the same transaction, so the split is actually clean.
The spouse who leaves buys their next home — with support income and the settlement counted properly.
The household qualified together; now one income has to carry it — placed with lenders who read support and new reality fairly.
Short-term equity funding when the settlement can't wait for the agreement to finalize.
Missed payments during the separation handled on the Alternative side, with the route back to prime mapped.
The same structure works for siblings, friends, parents and children, and former partners untangling a shared title — CMHC's own name for its program is "dissolution of relationship," and it covers anyone on title buying out anyone on title (confirmed with CMHC, February 2026).
Three ways to fund a buyout.
The right lane depends on the agreement, the equity, and whose income carries the file. We size all three before recommending one.
The buyout is treated like a purchase rather than a refinance — which is exactly why leverage can reach 95% instead of the usual 80% refinance ceiling. The separation agreement and an appraisal drive the file. Insurers differ on what the insured route can include: at CMHC the financing covers only the departing owner's interest — no new funds for any other reason — while the private insurers can differ, which is part of choosing where the file goes. Verified against insurer underwriting policy, August 4, 2026, and confirmed with CMHC, February 2026.
The workhorse when the buyout doesn't fit the insured program — or when separation-era credit needs a season on the Alternative side before prime pricing returns.
Court dates and closing dates don't wait for underwriting. A bridge funds the buyout on time; the permanent mortgage replaces it once the paperwork catches up.
Rates, ratios, and leverage are typical ranges for illustration — last reviewed July 2026 — and depend on the file. Working with family-law counsel? Our family & divorce lawyer page explains how we coordinate.
Files like yours.
Common separation-financing questions.
How does a spousal buyout mortgage work?+
The spouse keeping the home takes a new mortgage large enough to pay out the existing one plus the departing spouse's share of the equity. Structured under a buyout program, the transaction is treated like a purchase — which is why financing can reach 95% of the home's value on qualifying files instead of the usual 80% refinance limit.
Does a buyout only work for married couples?+
No. The same financing works for any co-owners — siblings who inherited together, parents and children, friends who bought together, former common-law partners. CMHC's own name for its program is "dissolution of relationship," and it covers anyone on title buying out anyone on title (confirmed with CMHC, February 2026). For non-spouses the paperwork is usually an agreement of purchase and sale rather than a separation agreement, and the insured route works the same way — treated as a purchase, up to 95% on qualifying files.
We're joint owners — two friends or siblings — and one of us wants out. How does it work?+
Same arithmetic as a spousal buyout: an appraisal establishes the value, you agree what the departing owner's share is worth, and the staying owner's new mortgage clears the old one and pays that share out. What the lender needs is that both of you are currently on title and the deal is documented — an agreement of purchase and sale, or a court order where one exists. Whether you hold title as joint tenants or tenants-in-common is a question for your lawyer; the mortgage side works the same either way. The staying owner qualifies on their own income, and the math doesn't care whether you were ever married.
Can I really finance up to 95% of the home to buy out my ex?+
On qualifying files up to $500,000 of value, yes — the full 95%. Above that, the federal minimum down payment (5% of the first $500,000, 10% of the rest) tapers the ceiling: about 92.9% at $850,000, about 91.7% at the $1,499,999 insured cap. You'll need a signed separation agreement, an appraisal, and income that carries the new mortgage under the stress test. Above insured price limits or on non-owner-occupied property, the ceiling drops to conventional levels.
Which lenders offer spousal buyout mortgages?+
Most of them — it isn't a specialty product. The buy-out structure rides on the insurers' programs (CMHC and the private insurers), so it's available through the lenders that work with them: every lender we've asked participates, including major banks like Scotiabank and TD (checked August 4, 2026 — we haven't asked every lender in Canada, but we haven't had a no yet). What actually separates lenders on these files is how they read one income, support payments, and separation-era credit — that's where placement earns its keep.
Can I use the insured spousal buyout if my home is worth more than $1.5 million?+
No. Mortgage insurance ends at $1,499,999 of property value, so above that the insured buy-out route doesn't exist. The buyout still works — it goes conventional: up to 80% of the home's value, with no insurance premium and no price cap on the property. The trade-off runs the other way too: under $1,499,999 the insured route reaches past the 80% ceiling — the full 95% on homes to $500,000, tapering to about 91.7% at the cap, because the federal minimum down payment is 5% of the first $500,000 and 10% of the rest (about $125,000 at $1,499,999) — and it comes with a mortgage default insurance premium added to the loan. Which side of that line the home sits on shapes the whole structure of the file.
Do child support and spousal support count as income?+
Receiving support can count toward qualifying, with lenders differing on seasoning and documentation; paying support is treated as a liability that reduces what you qualify for. Both sides of that ledger are placement decisions — the same numbers survive at one lender and fail at another.
Can the buyout also clear our joint debts?+
On the conventional route — up to 80% of the home's value — yes, and not just joint debts: any debt can be included, and even other amounts if needed, as long as there's enough equity room under the 80% ceiling and the income carries the payment. It's often the difference between a clean break and years of tangled statements: cards, lines, and loans paid out within the transaction so each spouse leaves with only their own name on their own debts. On the insured route above 80%, it depends on the insurer: CMHC limits the financing to the departing owner's interest, with nothing extra added (confirmed with CMHC, February 2026), while the private insurers' policies differ. Which route — and which insurer — is a placement decision, and it can change what the transaction can carry.
What if I can't qualify alone yet?+
There are lanes: Alternative lenders read one income more flexibly for a season, a co-signer can bridge the qualifying gap, or a private bridge holds the home while support begins flowing and the dust settles. 'Not at a bank today' is not the same as 'sell the house.'
Do we need the separation agreement finalized first?+
For the insured buyout program, a signed agreement is required at funding — but the file can be built, appraised, and approved in parallel with the lawyers finishing it. When a deadline can't wait, a private bridge funds first and the permanent mortgage follows the paperwork.
What happens to the mortgage we already have together?+
It's paid out and replaced by the new mortgage in the keeping spouse's name — which also releases the departing spouse from the covenant, something a simple 'name removal' often can't do. That release is usually the departing spouse's single biggest financial reason to want the buyout done properly.
Working through a buyout? Have these ready.
The agreement and the appraisal anchor everything — the rest can be gathered while the lawyers finish.
- Separation agreement — signed, or the current draft (buyout files can start on a draft)
- Current mortgage statement and property tax bill
- An appraisal or a realistic sense of the home's value — we can order
- Proof of income for the keeping spouse — plus support paperwork if support is part of qualifying
- T1s and Notices of Assessment, last 2 years
- List of joint debts to be paid out in the transaction
- The agreed buyout figure — or the equalization math from your lawyers
- Photo ID and void cheque
Keeping the home is often possible. Find out quietly.
Tell us the home's value, the mortgage balance, and the buyout figure — confidentially — and we'll tell you whether one income can carry it, before positions harden at the negotiating table.