Certified Divorce Property Specialist
An online divorce real estate course and certification for real estate agents.
Sell the home during a divorce as the calm, neutral professional.
About the CDPS
What the Certified Divorce Property Specialist covers
The Certified Divorce Property Specialist (CDPS) program prepares agents to sell, and sometimes help buy, a home when a marriage is ending. You will learn how to stay neutral between two parties who may not trust each other, how to work within the court orders and agreements the attorneys provide, and how to communicate with both spouses and their counsel so nobody feels sidelined. The program also covers the practical side: access to the home, pricing that both parties can accept, and keeping offers moving when signatures depend on two people. It is designed for licensed agents who want a fair, documented process and who leave every legal and financial question to the professionals who own it.
Why it matters
Why agents earn the CDPS
Divorcing couples frequently need to sell a shared home under pressure, and family law attorneys, mediators and financial professionals look for agents who can stay evenhanded and keep records clean, which makes this skill a lasting source of referrals.
Who it is for
Is this designation right for you?
- Agents who receive calls from family law attorneys or mediators
- Agents who want a neutral process for listing jointly owned homes
- Agents helping a newly single client buy their next home
- Agents who stay composed when two sellers disagree
The curriculum
What you will learn
4 units, each with a practice quiz and a hands-on assignment, then the final exam. The topics they cover:
Neutrality from the first call
Setting ground rules, equal communication and written agreements so neither spouse sees you as the other's agent.
Reading court orders at agent level
Understanding what an order or settlement says about the sale and sending every interpretation question to the attorneys.
Communicating with both attorneys
Keeping counsel informed with consistent updates, shared documents and agreed rules for contacting each party.
Pricing two people can accept
Presenting market evidence that both spouses, and their attorneys or a mediator, can review and understand.
Showings, access and the occupied home
Managing access, preparation and showings when one spouse lives in the home and the other does not.
Buying after the divorce
Helping a client purchase next, with lending and settlement questions referred to a lender and an attorney.
The payoff
What you will be able to do
- Establish neutral ground rules with both spouses before listing
- Route every legal or financial question to the right attorney or advisor
- Send both parties identical, documented updates throughout the sale
- Price a jointly owned home with evidence both sides can review
- Manage access and showings in a home occupied by one spouse
In practice
What the CDPS looks like in your business
Two phone calls on the same day
On Monday morning one spouse calls about listing the house; by lunch the other has called too, asking whether you have already taken sides. You answer both the same way. You explain that you can only list the home with both of them together, describe the steps you will follow, and ask for each attorney's contact details. You suggest a written agreement covering who receives updates, how decisions are made, and how either party can raise a concern. Then you send both spouses an identical email summarizing the conversation, with the same attachments at the same time. That first day is decisive, because once one party believes you favor the other, every later recommendation looks suspect, and a sale that should take weeks can stall for months over trust rather than price.
An order that sets the list price
The settlement says the home will be listed at a figure the attorneys agreed on, with a reduction if no offer arrives within a set time. You read it for what affects your work: the price, the dates, who signs and who decides on offers. Where the wording is unclear, such as whether the reduction is automatic or needs both spouses to approve, you do not interpret it. You send the question to both attorneys in writing and wait for a joint answer. Meanwhile you build a calendar with each deadline from the order and share it with everyone authorized to see it. A course assignment has you summarize a sample order this way, separating what you can act on from what needs counsel, since guessing at legal terms is the fastest way to end up in the middle of a dispute.
When only one spouse lives there
One spouse has moved out, and the other still lives in the home with the children and is not keen on showings. You set up access rules that both parties approve in writing: notice periods, showing windows and who may be present. You keep personal and financial documents out of sight, and you ask the occupant to prepare the house the way any seller would, without making the request feel like a demand from the other side. When the absent spouse wants to attend an open house, you check the agreement and, if needed, ask the attorneys. If tension or safety concerns arise, you pause and let counsel handle it. Access disputes are where many divorce listings slow down, so CDPS spends real time on these arrangements, and clear written rules keep the house on the market.
Who earns it
Who earns the CDPS and why it pays off
CDPS is for agents who want to serve couples and individuals going through divorce and who are comfortable working inside a process that other professionals direct. Family law attorneys, mediators, divorce financial professionals and counselors all meet clients who must decide what happens to the home, and they prefer agents who will not inflame the situation or create problems in the record. A designation backed by a public verification page gives them an easy reason to make the introduction. It changes the client conversation as well: rather than pitching for the listing, you describe how you will treat both parties equally and how decisions will be recorded. A divorce often leads to two later moves, so once the sale closes, either former spouse may come back to you for their next purchase. Within ACI, CDPS belongs to the Life Events Path, and it pairs closely with the Advanced Real Estate Negotiator for keeping counteroffers calm and with the Certified Probate & Inherited Home Specialist for other family-driven sales.
Licensing, CE credit and NAR
Holding CDPS means you earned an independent ACI designation, nothing more official than that. It is not a real estate license, it does not license you to do anything that requires one, and it does not count as state continuing-education (CE) credit. ACI is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Association of REALTORS (NAR). No NAR designation covers this exact niche, so agents serving divorcing clients have usually relied on general training plus experience. CDPS gives that work a structure: self-paced online units with hands-on assignments, an exam that includes written answers read by a person, and a certificate anyone can check on a public verification page. It renews every year with a short update. It is not legal, mediation or financial training, and holding it does not qualify you to advise on property division.
What is included
Every ACI designation includes
- Scenario-based lessons built around real transactions and client conversations
- Copy-and-use scripts, checklists, and templates you can apply this week
- A final exam with written answers read by a real marker, not just a click-through quiz
- A printable certificate plus a verifiable digital badge
- Post-nominal letters you can add to your name and marketing
The process
How it works
Enroll online
Get instant access to the CDPS coursework. No scheduling, no classroom.
Learn at your pace
4 practical, scenario-based units with practice quizzes and hands-on assignments.
Pass the exam
Multiple choice plus short written answers, read by a person. 2 attempts included.
Earn your designation
Receive your CDPS certificate, a shareable badge, and a public verification page.
30-day money-back guarantee
Enroll with confidence. If a designation is not right for you, email us within 30 days for a full refund. No forms, no hassle.
Two exam attempts are included with every designation, and if you need another we add it at no extra cost.
Your CDPS certificate
- 1A full US Letter certificate in your name, as a print-ready PDF and an image for your website and listings.
- 2Dated the day you pass and valid for 12 months, with a verification ID anyone can check on our public register.
- 3Renewed each year with a short update on what changed and a ten-question check ($29, or free with All-Access). You get a re-dated certificate and badge.
Questions
Frequently asked
Is the Certified Divorce Property Specialist designation affiliated with NAR?+
No. Agent Certification Institute created and issues this designation on its own. It has no affiliation with the National Association of REALTORS, and NAR has not endorsed it. What it does show is that you completed ACI's training on divorce-related sales and passed an exam that includes written answers reviewed by a person.
Do I need family law knowledge before starting?+
No. You need a real estate license and experience with, or solid training in, a standard listing. The program does not teach family law and does not expect you to know it. It focuses on how a divorce changes your process as an agent, such as who must sign, who receives updates and what happens when a court order sets the terms of a sale.
Will CDPS help me advise a client on whether to keep the house?+
No. Whether to keep, sell or buy out a spouse is a legal and financial decision that belongs to the client, their attorney and a financial professional. You can supply market information, such as a pricing opinion or recent sales, when both parties and their counsel have agreed you should. The program trains you to say clearly where your help stops.
Can one agent work with both spouses when they jointly own the home?+
When both spouses are on title and selling together, they are usually joint sellers, and the program teaches you to serve them as one client with two decision-makers. Things change when one spouse wants to buy out the other, since their interests can then conflict. Agency and dual representation rules vary by state, so check your state law and your broker's policy, and let the attorneys weigh in before proceeding.
What if one spouse stops responding during the sale?+
You keep communicating with both parties equally and in writing, even when only one replies, and you never treat silence as agreement. If a signature or decision is needed and one spouse will not engage, you inform both attorneys, explain which deadline is at risk, and wait for direction. The program covers this scenario because a court or the attorneys, not the agent, decide what happens when cooperation breaks down.
Is this designation suitable for newer agents?+
It can be, though divorce listings reward experience. Newer agents should already be comfortable with a standard listing from appointment to closing, perhaps through the Certified Home Listing Specialist, before taking a first divorce sale, and should involve their broker early. The CDPS units then teach the neutrality, documentation and attorney communication that make these sales manageable, and you work through them on your own schedule.
How long does it take?+
It is self-paced and fully online: 4 units, each a solid evening of reading plus a practice quiz and a short assignment you do in your own business. Most agents finish over a week or two. Written exam answers are marked within two business days.
Is it verifiable?+
Yes. Every CDPS holder gets a public verification page and a shareable digital badge for LinkedIn, your bio, and your email signature.
How long is it valid?+
Your CDPS certificate is dated the day you pass and is valid for 12 months, and your badge shows the years it is current for. A month before it lapses we email you. Renewing means reading that year's short update on what changed for CDPS holders and answering ten multiple-choice questions, for $29; you then get a re-dated certificate and badge. All-Access members renew free.
Is there a guarantee?+
Yes. Enroll with confidence. If a designation is not right for you, email us within 30 days for a full refund. No forms, no hassle. Two exam attempts are included with every designation, and if you need another we add it at no extra cost.
Can I get this and others for one price?+
Yes. The all-access membership unlocks CDPS and every other designation for $199 a year, and saves $1450 against buying the catalog one at a time.
Be first in when the CDPS opens
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Guides for agents
Part of a learning path
CDPS is one step in this path: a suggested set of designations, in the order an agent tends to need them.
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