Divorce

Debbiedex

Ive been separated from my husband for well over 5 years. We have lived in the same house as he refused to move out and I could not afford to. Last year I made the choice to sell the house. Does the two year or 5 year separation still apply for a divorce if we were in the same property but living separate lives ? he paid half the mortgage but I paid all other bills.

He has already had half the profit from the house sale and is now stalling on a divorce.

davidwood123

Debbiedex wrote: »

Ive been separated from my husband for well over 5 years. We have lived in the same house as he refused to move out and I could not afford to. Last year I made the choice to sell the house. Does the two year or 5 year separation still apply for a divorce if we were in the same property but living separate lives ? he paid half the mortgage but I paid all other bills.

He has already had half the profit from the house sale and is now stalling on a divorce.

Why should he have moved out?

Voyager2002

The rules on 'no-fault' divorce are that the person asking for the divorce must show EITHER that the two have lived apart for at least five years; or that they have lived apart for at least two years and that the other spouse agrees to the divorce.

In your situation the risk is that the court might not agree that you have lived apart at all, meaning that neither route is open to you.

Where the two spouses say that they have led separate lives under the same roof, the court will seek to determine whether they were in fact living separately or together by asking questions about whether meals and groceries were shared; what arrangements were made about laundy, and so on. It should be fairly clear to you what the 'right' answers would be, but your former husband is likely to be present and to be asked the same questions, and if he (for instance) said that you sometimes ate together then the divorce might well be refused.

Debbiedex

Ive got proof that I paid all the household bills as I had to open up my own bank account. I also have letters from Child Tax credits agreeing that my situation is classed as separated. I moved into a separate bedroom. We literally just lived under the same roof but separate lives. We have now been in separate homes for the last 6 months as well.

Debbiedex

I just put that he wouldnt move out and I could afford to. That doesn't matter now as the only option to separate was to sell the house.

TBagpuss

Yes, it is possible to have been living separate and apart even in the same house. The key is whether you were 'living as husband and wife' -so were you sharing a bed, or bed room? were either or you still cooking, cleaning, doing laundry for the other? have you separated out the bills as far as practical.
A court will generally accept your word for this so it's only likely to be an issue if your husband were to dispute how long you have been separated for.

anna_1977

I would think that if you've paid ALL the household bills as per your previous post they may not class that as living separately