Should I, May I, Leave The Home During Onset of a Dissolution of Marriage
Heather Byrd, Byrd Law Firm, Sarasota, Florida
Often one of the primary questions clients ask when they are at the onset of a dissolution of marriage proceeding is “Should I leave the home?” “May I leave the home?” And of course, every divorce case is very fact specific.
So, I can’t tell you for certain whether this applies to you, but I can give you some generalities. Often, the clients are concerned it would be treated as abandonment, whether it’s the abandonment of their children or abandonment of their home if they want their home in the final dissolution settlement.
That’s a misconception. There is no such thing as abandonment. We all understand that it would be very difficult to live in a home while going through a divorce with your spouse. And it is possible to move out of the home, but you usually have to have certain things set up in place.
If you have children, you want to make sure that you can work out a parenting plan, even if it’s a very temporary time-sharing schedule with your kids so that if you are going to relocate out of the home, you have some arrangements in place to make sure that you are going to have appropriate and sufficient time with your children. So, I recommend addressing that with your spouse before making any decisions about relocating out of the home.
