Your home

There are two major considerations for you relative to your primary asset, your home. The first is prior to a divorce being finalized. Should you choose to leave your house prior to a divorce we suggest that you have a full accounting of the property within the home that will be subject to review in the divorce settlement. If there are children involved and you take them with you out of the residence, it is essential that you notify your spouse as to where you and they will be living. You should work out a visitation arrangement that allows your children to continue to see your spouse on a regular basis. You should not keep your children away from your spouse unless you fear for your or their safety, in which case, you should contact the police, file a report, stay in a safe location and file for an Emergency Order of Protection. Similarly, while you can request that your spouse leave the home, you can not force them to leave without filing a petition and receiving a court order. In the petition, you must show that your spouse's continued presence in the marital home poses a threat to the safety of you and/or your children. You should not dispose of any of your spouse's possessions. This is called dissipation and could result in your receiving a reduced share of the assets when they are divided in the divorce judgment.

Whether you stay in the marital home after the divorce depends entirely on your overall financial situation. If your financial situation allows, you can buy your spouse's share of the equity in the home. You then need to have the ability to continue making mortgage payments on the home. If staying in the marital home is of the utmost importance to you, make that fact known from the beginning and we will work towards a settlement that seeks to achieve that goal.