you can't get the $500k on one property. The rules say both people must have lived in the property for two years.
see
Each of you would likely only get the single personal section 121 exemption. See
http://www.americanbar.org/newsletter/publications/gp_solo_magazine_home/gp_solo_magazine_index/mari... Married taxpayers qualify for the $500,000 exclusion under the following conditions:
The parties file a joint return for the year of sale.
At least one spouse satisfies the two-out-of-five-years ownership requirement.
Both spouses satisfy the two-out-of-five-years use requirement.
Neither spouse is ineligible because he or she used the exclusion in conjunction with a previous sale within two years of the date of the current sale
example As for newlyweds, assume A and B plan to buy a new home together and sell the homes each lived in prior to the marriage. Neither party satisfies the ownership and use requirements with respect to the other’s premarital home. A and B have gains of $200,000 and $300,000, respectively, incident to the sales. Whether they file jointly or individually, A’s $200,000 will be fully excluded by the $250,000 exclusion, whereas $50,000 of B’s gain—the excess over the $250,000—will be subject to tax. B may not use A’s unused exclusion on B’s gain in excess of the $250,000 limit.
Disclaimer: Not a tax professional. Information gathered from internet links. Anything dated in June 2019 was posted in prior years and is before the 2019 limits and changes.
