Ask Your Divorce Attorney To Draft Up A Contract For Sharing Your Marital Home During A Divorce
One of the challenges that divorcing couples face is how to share the marital home until everything is finalized. It's common for one spouse to move out of the home, but because the couple jointly owns the residence, he or she who has relocated may still want access to it. If you're the one who has remained in the home during this time, you should talk to your divorce law attorney about drafting up a contract that you and your spouse can sign in regards to sharing the home. Your attorney can handle this task for you, and it can make life easier in the weeks until your divorce is finalized. Here are some points that this contract can outline.
Notice Before Visiting
If you're staying in your marital home and your spouse is living elsewhere, you might not want him or her to simply drop in on you. Doing so could potentially lead to an argument, which is not what you want at this difficult time — especially if you have your children in the home. One thing that your attorney can add to your contract is a rule about how much notice your spouse has to give before visiting. Try to be reasonable here, because he or she is part owner of the house. Something in the neighborhood of a few hours may seem reasonable.
Time Alone
It's possible that your spouse will want to spend some time in the marital home without you there. Perhaps he or she wants to hang out with your children, or maybe he or she wants to go through some possessions that are still stored there. Try to come to a consensus about what you both feel is a reasonable amount of time for your spouse to spend in the house without you around. For example, you might decide that four or five hours a week is appropriate.
Removal Of Items
You'll run into a difficult situation if your spouse begins to visit the home and remove items. He or she could be attempting to hide assets from you or may simply be trying to sell assets without your knowledge. In many cases, these assets will be jointly owned, and actions of this nature are disruptive when a divorce is on the horizon. The contract should stipulate that your spouse isn't allowed to remove any jointly owned assets without you both agreeing to it.
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