3 Things to Consider Doing If You’ve Moved Out of the Marital Home

February 14, 2013  |  Elizabeth A. Schading

While we don’t often counsel people to move out of their marital homes, some people have already made the move long before they have reached us or our website. If this is you, then your situation isn’t hopeless – there are still things you can do to strengthen your position in your case.


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1. Consider Visiting Your Children Often
The amount of time that you are with your children now could have an enormous impact on your parenting time later. Don’t expect a great outcome if you didn’t see or speak to your kids for six months after moving out of the marital home.
Make sure that you document each visit. Consider taking some photographs, but keep a detailed diary of dates, times, and activities, too.
2. Consider Taking some Photographs
Take a photo inventory of the marital property. That’s anything that isn’t clearly and definably yours. If you’re not sure what that covers, then assume it’s anything that isn’t your clothing and toiletries.
Absent an agreement with your spouse, be mindful of what items you take if you’re the spouse that’s moving. Taking a few towels and a set of sheets is probably not an unreasonable move. Clearing out the house and leaving your spouse and kids to do without won’t be helpful. Ideally, you’d consult an attorney before taking anything at all.
3. Consider Staying on Your Best Behavior
This is a bad time to choose extreme lifestyle changes such as taking on a new lover, partying all night or losing your job. While this is a stressful time your behavior right now can have a serious impact on your future—which is true for either party in a divorce, no matter where he or she is living.
It’s not that uncommon to have made some mistakes before consulting a divorce attorney, simply because divorce is such an emotional time. Whatever you’ve already done in response to your divorce, the family lawyers at Barna, Guzy, and Steffen can help you make better moves from now on. Call us for a consultation.