It is not the concern that who owns the house, a married couple living in a same house after their marriage is called as a marital home. Both the spouses have the equal rights to occupy marital home until or unless one of them gets an order from the court to leave that house. Also, it doesn’t matter that who pays the bills and fulfills the requirements of a home, the rights of both the partners will remain same in the marital home.
Below are the points mentioned which relates to the topic directly and suggest that
Family Home
As we already discussed above, the house occupied by a married couple is called a marital home or a family home. No partner has the right to evict the other partner from that house without the order from the court. But yes, either spouse can ask the court to give verdict to the other partner to move out to the house after proving the appropriate and genuine reason. In case, a spouse tries to evict the other partner from the family house by unusual practices such as changing the locks and bars of the doors, etc., here the police can definitely intervene.
Court Intervention
Once a spouse files a divorce petition, the court may grant a temporary order considering that who will get to stay in the family house until the case is pending in the court and properties are not divided finally. In most of the cases, it is seen that the temporary orders filed with the court become as regular motions, it means that the spouse filing the divorce must give the hardcopy of notice and opportunity to response to that notice to the other partner.
Right to Occupy Marital Home
It depends upon case to case that who will get to reside in the marital home amongst both the partners. In case, if the partners have a minor child then the court may allot the family home to a primary spouse who will better take care of the requirements of the child. In other cases, if the partners don’t have a child then the court may consider that on whose name the house is titled, if he/she can prove that the property is owned by him/her separately or before the marriage, also, if he/she has received the house as a gift or inherited. But, if the marital house is purchased after their legal marriage then it doesn’t matters that on whose name the house is titled.
Domestic Violence
If a spouse proves in a court with genuine evidence that she and her child were the victims of domestic violence by the other partner then the court may ask the other spouse to leave the family house immediately. A judge may also pass a temporary order prohibiting the other spouse to approach the members of the family for a while. In some cases, the court hears the case immediately and grants the verdict without taking much time.
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