Your spouse asks you to leave. Do you have to?

You and your spouse have been having marital troubles and you have believed for months that you were headed for divorce. Your spouse finally goes ahead and gets the divorce petition, serving you the papers to let you know that the process is underway.

You are not necessarily surprised, and you may even support the divorce. But what does surprise you is that your spouse says you’ll now have to leave the house because there’s no way the two of you can live together during the divorce process. While you do understand that this is going to strain your relationship, can your spouse actually kick you out of your own house?

Only if they are the sole owner

This can normally only happen in cases where one person owns the house and the other does not. For instance, maybe your spouse bought the house before the two of you got married and already owned it. You moved in after the marriage, so you’re not a legal owner. As the owner of that property, your spouse can ask you to leave.

For many couples, though, this is not at all how things are set up. They got married first and then jointly bought the home. If that’s your situation, then your spouse cannot kick you out of the house. You also have a legal right to keep living there since your name is on the title.

Things could get very complicated moving forward, especially if the two of you end up in a long-term conflict about where you should live. As you go through the divorce, take the time to consider all of your legal options to protect your rights – such as the right to property or other assets that you own jointly with your spouse.