For whatever reason, you and your spouse have decided to file for a
divorce and as a result you are in a bit of a predicament: you decided to keep
living in the same house. There are many couples who will live in separate
places one the divorce papers are served, and others who chose to continue
living together for the time being. Sometimes it is because of financial
obligations or because of the children. Now that you and your spouse are
divorcing, here are a few tips to consider as you choose to remain under
the same roof as each other.
First off, by looking at your living arrangement from a financial lens,
you can access the reasons why you are choosing to stay in the same home
with your soon-to-be ex. If it because of the fact that neither or you
can afford the payments for the house or apartment on your own, or perhaps
you are already looking for a new place and just have to wait. Whatever
the reason may be, discuss with each other a plan of action and consider
each other to be roommates now instead of spouses.
As roommates, the tides will change a bit. You will want to make your own
little contract establishing the new responsibilities for the home, which
will take care of what chores, how much each will contribute to the bills,
etc. By writing this down, and holding each other to your agreement will
help there keep not only order within the home, but also make sure you
both understand the situation at hand, and how things are changing.
Many would recommend for those spouses in smaller homes to schedule a usage
of the space, for example his favorite show is on Tuesday nights, so the
wife promises to run errands at that time, and so on. If you only have
one bathroom, establish who will use it when. Especially in the mornings,
when you are stressed already trying to make it on time to work, having
a schedule will be helpful.
Another thought is that if you and your spouse have a lot of social events
at your house, determine which ones you will be at or not, and vice versa.
If there is a time in which it is more of your closer friends, share that
you would prefer them to make plans that night elsewhere, and also be
open for your spouse to do the same with their friends.
Going through a divorce is never easy, and trying to live together for
a period in the meantime is also not the easiest, but with a little preparation
it can be much smoother than just winging it and getting in one another’s
way. If you are considering a divorce,
contact Hutchinson Law today for an experienced family and divorce attorney today!