My husband abandoned me.. what do I do?

[Hell Cat]

I live in South Carolina. My husband and I have been married for a little over 8 years and in Feb. of this year he packed up and abandoned me and my 2 children.. the children are now 9 and 11 but are not his.. he has raised them from the time my youngest was 2 months old.
I cant really afford an attorney right now.. I went today to try and get a restraining order, but since he has not threatened my life or bodily harm, they cant get me one.. Him threatening to damage my home and car wasnt enough.
Is there some way that I can keep him away from here since we ARE still legally married? I do have proof he has been gone since Feb.. and the home is in my name. He has already taken all of his belongings from here.. and has already bought a place supposedly about 20 miles away.
Is there some type of divorce I can go through because of these conditions? to get it over with?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[LdiJ]

I live in South Carolina. My husband and I have been married for a little over 8 years and in Feb. of this year he packed up and abandoned me and my 2 children.. the children are now 9 and 11 but are not his.. he has raised them from the time my youngest was 2 months old.
I cant really afford an attorney right now.. I went today to try and get a restraining order, but since he has not threatened my life or bodily harm, they cant get me one.. Him threatening to damage my home and car wasnt enough.
Is there some way that I can keep him away from here since we ARE still legally married? I do have proof he has been gone since Feb.. and the home is in my name. He has already taken all of his belongings from here.. and has already bought a place supposedly about 20 miles away.
Is there some type of divorce I can go through because of these conditions? to get it over with?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

I think that you could safely change the locks at this point in time. He has clearly already established another residence.

However, the most important thing is to immediately file for divorce and sole possession of the marital residence.

 

[Hell Cat]

I have changed the locks about a week after he left.. I even had to put a master lock on my barn because I have a 4 wheeler out there he said he was going to take. I know for a fact he doesnt want the home.. I just want to make sure that he doesnt come and break in and take whatever he wants out of the home or the barn/garage.

 

[mistoffolees]

I think that you could safely change the locks at this point in time. He has clearly already established another residence.

I would probably do that, but realize that it entails some risk. Until a court orders otherwise, it is probably still the marital residence.

However, the most important thing is to immediately file for divorce and sole possession of the marital residence.

Not possible. She doesn't appear to meet the grounds for divorce. She will be able to after February, 2011.
South Carolina Divorce Source: Grounds for Divorce: South Carolina

I live in South Carolina. My husband and I have been married for a little over 8 years and in Feb. of this year he packed up and abandoned me and my 2 children.. the children are now 9 and 11 but are not his.. he has raised them from the time my youngest was 2 months old.
I cant really afford an attorney right now.. I went today to try and get a restraining order, but since he has not threatened my life or bodily harm, they cant get me one.. Him threatening to damage my home and car wasnt enough.
Is there some way that I can keep him away from here since we ARE still legally married? I do have proof he has been gone since Feb.. and the home is in my name. He has already taken all of his belongings from here.. and has already bought a place supposedly about 20 miles away.
Is there some type of divorce I can go through because of these conditions? to get it over with?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

You can't get a divorce because of the above. However, you want to ensure that you have exclusive use of the home - and might be entitled to some temporary support. SC doesn't have legal separation, but they have something called an order of separate maintenance and support. General info here:
SCBar // Legal Separation

You can, in principle, file for that without an attorney, but you really need to learn the proper procedures to do it right. You would request exclusive use of the marital home when you file.