Q: Can I stay away from home while in divorce proceedings without loosing home or kids
We own house jointly, I have no personal income. He makes the money. Married 20 years. Lots of tension, kids very angry with me, Husband said to leave. Can I leave and stay somewhere else because of the high tensions without loosing home. Home was originally in a trust set up for me
A:
The short answer is no, you do not lose an interest in ANY marital property because you do not have current possession of the property.
At minimum the equity of the home is part of the marital estate (and the entire home is part of the marital estate if it was purchased during marriage). If the trust was in your name, it might be possible that your ex has no interest in the home (this is something that you will need to have a lawyer review your situation). Excluding the trust matter, the same basic idea applies to all other property in the marital estate--all items in the marital estate are subject to equitable division (e.g. vehicles, retirement, household items, etc.).
While each case is unique, if you have 20 year of marriage, the entire marital estate will likely split around 50-50%.
Hiring an attorney for a divorce is recommended, but not required. With the trust issue, hiring an attorney is highly encouraged.
A: I forgot to mention that custody determinations are also not influence by unofficial and temporary non-contact by a parent. Absences only become an issue if the gap is for a long time (say several years). Even then, no court can wholly prevent a parent from contact with their children unless there are serious health/safety concerns (e.g. proven sexual abuse or proven violence towards the children) or other rare circumstances.
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