Legal Question in Family Law in Florida
Divorce
My husband is a drug addict, left our home & went to GA over 10 years ago. He spent 2 yr. in prison there, we've had very little contact. Out of site, out of mind, I never filed for divorce in all these years! (1 son, age 27 now) 6 months ago, he showed up in FLA, he didn't cause any problems then, but he did go get a FL drivers license using this address. He is now back in GA living/working. I now want to file for divorce, my question is, the house and mortgage I have been living in all these years is in both of our names! He has given nothing financially in over 10 years, and he only lived in the house 2 years before he left, so I paid the entire mortgage/upkeep alone all this time. Can he make me sell the house and give him half of the profit?What if I don't want to move and sell? Will I have to pay HIM? He recently called me up, boasting about how he really needs money, as he is back on drugs (again). $$'s in his eyes! The last 10 years were not easy for me, the house is worth quite a bit more than it was purpchased for, obviously. He makes me sick bragging about ''his'' money, ''his house''-He is having alot of ''junk'' mail, sent to this address, to make it look like he lives here, and he hasn't stepped foot in here since 1997!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Divorce
The general rule is that all assets are split equally between the parties when a divorce occurs. However, it is possible for a judge to determine that assets should be split at the point of separation rather than filing of the divorce, meaning that he wouldn't get all those years worth of "credit" in the house. Yours sounds like a good case for that to happen, but you need to get a good divorce lawyer to help you make the argument to the judge.