[quote]My spouse is buying my share of our house. He had it appraised and deducted the balance for our morgage from this amount to determine the price. Good so far, but then he also deducted a hefty realtor fee. He indicates this is the way it is done per the advice of several bankers. He also added on refinancing fees which is probably reasonable, but I really question the realtor fee since we are not using a realtor. Is this correct? [/quote]

I bought my ex out of the house. I was told that the courts don't deduct realtor fees. And the refinancing fees don't get deducted either. All that gets deducted to arrive at equity is the mortgage and any home equity loans. What is left over after is what gets split.

Tell your ex that if he wants to deduct realtor fees, then the house is going to have to be sold. And then what is left over after actual (not estimated) realtor fee's and all other selling costs will be split between the two of you.

Bankers aren't judges in a divorce court. They aren't the ones who decide what gets deducted and what doesn't.