People get divorced because they are sick of conflict. So it makes perfect sense that you would want to move out ASAP when in the divorce process. The fact is that moving out before your divorce is finalized can have serious repercussions. Here are 5 reasons to NOT move out until your divorce is finalized.
The Marital Home Is an Important Asset
Often in marriages, the marital home is the largest asset. Even if it is not, it is the emotional seat for your children. Leaving the marital home without some kind of agreement in place can cost you in asset division. It also sends a message to your kids. It tells them you can’t put up with stress for them. It can also communicate to them that you are abdicating your role as responsible, onsite, caring parent.
You Can Lose Touch With Your Children
Often when people bolt from the marital home they wind up squatting on a friend’s couch. Alternatively, they may take a small, temporary apartment, or hotel room. In so doing you lose immediate contact with the children. You literally lose the opportunity to spend time with your children when they need you most.
Overnight Stays
Once you move out, who is to say you will be let back in? Will the other parent be amenable to overnight stays with your children once you leave? Will you be able to have the ids over to your place? Will you have the room? Will the other parent allow it short of a court order?
Parenting Schedule Needs to be in Place
Leaving the marital home before your divorce is final or at least until you have a parenting agreement in place can open up the possibility of net seeing your children if the other parent chooses to deny you access. Children need regularity. A parenting plan will give you and them regularity. It will give you a frame to explain that you will be there for them and when.
Compromising Custody Options
Temporary living spaces may be deemed inadequate for child care by the courts. Once you have an agreement in place, your next move is to select a place to live that will have room for your kids. It will tell the court and your kids that you are serious about your children’s well-being.
As tempting as it is to say “I’m done” and just move out, DON’T. Giving in to impulse is rarely beneficial to anyone. You can lose rights to the marital home as an asset. You can lose time with your children. There is a chance you may not only lose time with your children but have to pay more in child support. The children may feel you are abandoning them.
Instead, seek ways to live separately under the same roof. Sleep in the living room. If the other parent is willing, set up a parenting schedule where you can parent separately under the same roof. Begging to condition the children into the idea that they will always be cared for by you both but rarely at the same time.
If 5 reasons to To NOT Move Out Until Your Divorce is Final are not enough then check out ten things not to do during divorce.