Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: family home

You may have a right to exlusive occupancy of the house, at least for a period of years. You may also have other rights and interests, depending on the facts of the case, which cannot be properly disussed here.

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Re: family home

You certainly do. Marital property is defined as property that you each own and participate in together. There is case law that suggests that the fact that your name is on the deed, even if the home were purchased before the marriage, represents a gift of a portion of the house. While the money for the down payment was probably separate property - once he joined it into the house and you participated in the care of the house - it was transfered in whole or in part to marital property.