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Evicting an Estranged Spouse

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blessedbliss

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Tennessee

I have a situation I'd like some input on, please. A brief background leading up to my situation is as follows:

Married in 1998
Purchased a home in 1999 (home is in my name; husband is not listed jointly, but as a co-signer)
Moved out/separated in 2002 (let husband stay in the home due to finances)
Moved back into the home in 2004 (living in separate bedrooms; still separated aside from dwelling together)

Once I moved back in, child support payments ceased. He paid all of the household bills - mortgage, lot rent, utilities, etc. As of January, he stopped staying here in the home. He's not stayed overnight here at all since then. He's continued to pay the bills.... though late and at a few points with further actions being threatened by the companies involved.

The home recently had a flood in one area... in "his" bedroom. We tried to contact him to remove his belongings and to even come and look at the room, to see if any damage was done to his items. We left 5 voicemails and my father spoke with him on 2 separate occasions (on in person, once on the phone) to advise him of this. He never once came to remove anything or even examine the damage done.

I filed the insurance claim and handled all of that on my own. I've received information on how much was approved, and I need to begin to have the work done on that area, which includes new subfloors, carpeting, insulation under the home, etc.

He has left all of his items here since January... including several large pieces of furniture. These items need to be out of the room when we start the work. We have no place to store them here in the home, nor can I afford to pay storage for his belongings. I tried to call him yesterday, and his phone is disconnected. (We have a child together, but he rarely comes around to see him, and we have virtually little to no contact with him.)

Are there any precautions I need to take in "evicting" him? My plan at this point, is to write a letter advising him of the situation with the water damage, and explaining that all of the furniture and items need to be removed from the room as soon as possible so that repairs can occur. I was thinking of giving him two weeks to do this. If the items were not removed, I would dispose of them, as I have no means for storing them.

As said above, he "was" paying the mortgage, lot rent, and utilities. I've recently found out that the mortgage is running 1 month behind since November. At this time, he has not paid July's mortgage and August's payment will be due soon, too.

I know he does not want to live here - that's evident by him abandoning the place. I think the reason he has continued paying the bills when he is not living here is out of the fear of any legal actions taken against him.

In addition to "evicting" him, I plan on advising him that he can stop paying the home bills, but he can immediately begin paying child support directly to me, until a court date can be set. Child support was removed since we lived in the same home. With him not living here, and if I am going to be taking over all of the payments, I feel this is a fair and appropriate "trade".

If any of you have any advice on how I can go about doing this, I would appreciate any input & ideas. Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.What is the name of your state?
 


Ohiogal

Queen Bee
You cannot evict your husband. This is the marital residence and hence he has an interest in the home. If you want him out you have to go to court. You say you are separated but I highly doubt that is a legal separation as a legal separation would have included a court order determining who got the property. If you want him out, go to court and file for divorce or legal separation and ask for possession of the home.
 

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