I’m the Only One on the House Title; Can I Evict my Spouse?
You’ve had it.
You’re done.
You want a divorce.
And you want your spouse to leave the house.
This makes sense because you bought the house before you got married, and you’re the only one on the title.
In other words, this is your house, and you want your soon-to-be ex out.
Can (and should) you evict your spouse from your home?
In short, the answer is no, and here’s why.
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Legally, you can’t evict your spouse from the marital home.
You can’t evict (eviction is a legal proceeding) your spouse from the marital home you’ve been living in. Yes, I know, you bought the home and you’re the only one on title. It’s your home. Legally, it’s not that simple. Your spouse may well have claim to some of your home’s equity for the time you are married. Also, your spouse has a possession interest in the marital home until the divorce is finalized. No eviction here.
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The police are not going to help you evict your spouse from the home.
If you were to not actually evict your spouse, but, instead, try to call the police and have them help you remove your spouse from the marital home, you’d find the police unwilling to do anything. They’re going to tell you to, “Go to divorce court and talk to a judge.”
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You’ll look like a bully when you get divorced and go to court.
Think about it: if you throw your spouse out of the home, essentially making your spouse homeless, how do you think that will look to your divorce judge? The answer is: not good.
Same principle goes for cell phones, cars, health insurance, utilities, etc. Do not take or cut your soon-to-be ex off from any of these things. It will come back to bite you hard when you go before a judge in divorce court.
So, how can you get your spouse out of your home?
There are two legitimate and effective ways to make your spouse move out of the home.
First, go to court for temporary orders. Temporary orders are orders the court puts in place right now that people have to live with until the end of a divorce.
In temporary orders, you can ask the court to have your spouse move out of the house.
Second, finish your divorce. The best way to ensure your spouse leaves the home is to finish your divorce. The quickest way to make that happen is almost always through mediation.
