‘Til mortgage do us part.
While some married couples stay together for financial reasons or their kids — others are getting divorced but continuing to live on the same property for the sake of their mortgage.
Due to high mortgage interest rates, Ryan Hambry and Morgan Dickson technically finalized their divorce back in April — but are living just a few feet away from each other since they refinanced their home at a 2% rate and neither wants to sell and start over, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Hambry and Dickson both live in Cape Canaveral, Florida — yet he lives in a beach bungalow while she lives in an Airstream trailer in the home’s yard.
Their arrangement is an untraditional one — but for the sake of their finances, they’re making it work.
“The finances can work,” Hambry told the outlet. “The boundaries are harder.”
“I’m not in her space all the time. She’s in mine more,” he said. Sometimes he feels as though they are still married, he said, because she is always around.
“But then there’s clearly no intimacy and other parts of what a marriage is.”
While each parent has their own setup, the kids bounce back and forth between the house and the trailer each night for a little “camp out.”
Hambry and Dickson aren’t the only divorced couple doing what they have to do for the sake of their finances.
Megan Meyer, her husband, Michael Flores, and her ex-hubby, Tyler, all live together under one roof for the benefit of their kids — Megan and Tyler’s 3-year-old daughter, Ryann and Megan’s 18-month-old son with Michael — and their bank accounts.
It’s a platonic arrangement that works for them.
“It’s a [lifestyle of] convenience,” Megan, 25, from South Carolina, told The Post. “It brings my daughter’s parents into the same house again, and, financially, it just makes sense.”
While this trio manages to make this work for them — according to experts, it’s certainly not for everyone.
“Both parents must have enough emotional maturity to live with their ex, as well as his or her new partner,” advised Kerrie Mohr, a NYC relationship therapist of 25 years.
“For this living situation to benefit the kids, all of the adults must be healed from the wounds of their former relationship in order to embark on a new [co-living] relationship,” she said.
“Setting respectful boundaries, coming up with clear communication strategies and focusing on your ‘Why?’ are all key for success,” Mohr added. “Your ‘Why?’ is your North Star, the reason you’re setting aside your issues and sharing a household with your ex and their new partner.”
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