You need to pursue support right away. If you can afford counsel, you should file for divorce. If not, you should file for support in Juvenile Court on your own. You should argue that your husband's former income should be imputed to him, since he voluntarily left his job.

Answer Applies to: Ohio
Replied: 11/7/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

If you file for a divorce then everything has to be split. If you sell the house you could get half of the equity. Just as long as the house was purchased while you were married. The 401k would have to be split even if he took it. Was the 401k obtained during the marriage?

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 11/7/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

You should immediately hire an attorney and file for divorce. What he is doing is disposing of potential marital assets. He's currently free to do so, but would be immediately prevented once a complaint for divorce has been filed. He will also be under court order to provide for support if there were an action in place. Hire an attorney right away, then go from there.

Answer Applies to: Georgia
Replied: 11/7/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

The court will probably NOT require you to sell the home if the payments can be maintained between the two of you because of the children who might otherwise have to change schools. You are probably entitled to a portion of his retirement even though he cashed it in already. You may also qualify for alimony and child support is mandatory. His income will be imputed at minimum wage or more if he left the job with the intent to avoid child support.

Answer Applies to: Kansas
Replied: 11/6/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

There are many legal rights to which you may be entitled. If you cannot buy your husbands interest out of the home, then it may have to be sold. He owes you for 1/2 of the 401k he cashed in if it was earned during the marriage. You may also be entitled to child and spousal support. Please meet with a skilled family law attorney to explore your legal options.

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 11/4/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

Your husband cannot force you to sell the house if your name is on title. You need to hire a competent family law lawyer like me. You should file for divorce, and file a motion for temporary maintenance and child support. Also, you should file a claim for dissipation of marital assets. You may also file a motion to force him to seek employment.

Answer Applies to: Illinois
Replied: 11/4/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

If you are on the deed or title of the house, the house will not be able to be sold without your consent. As the spouse, even if you are not on the deed or title you also have a community property interest in the house that will prevent the house from being sold without your consent. Since your husband abandoned you, you should consider filing for a divorce. Since you have four children, at the very least, file for child support so that your husband is obligated to support your children.

Answer Applies to: Nevada
Replied: 11/4/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

You do not have to do anything he wants you to do unless there is a divorce decree in place that requires you to do something. Is there any equity in the home in the first place? Also, if you file for a divorce you can ask the court to make him give you half of the value of the 401K that he cashed in. He is an adulterer who abandoned his wife and children, so there is a good argument to make to recover some of those funds from him.

Answer Applies to: Georgia
Replied: 11/4/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

You need to file a support action or divorce/legal separation and obtain orders for support and other items. The court won't force you to sell the home just to give him money. Division of the marital estate is considered, and so is support and housing for the 4 children.

Answer Applies to: Wisconsin
Replied: 11/4/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

Whose name is on the deed? You need to hire a lawyer and file for divorce immediately as you could be held responsible for his debts. If the children are under 19 then file for child support. If he refuses to pay, his new home will be county lockup. Also, file the divorce claiming abandonment and ask for the home. And part of the retirement he had. Remember you are hurting your children if you do not do this.

Answer Applies to: Alabama
Replied: 11/3/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

You should file for divorce and a temporary order for support, the house is marital property but you would have a good chance of getting it as it is also the home of the children. Until you have a court order you have no way to enforce support, once you have an order the payments are owed whether he is employed or not. Even if he us unemployed the court will order support based on minimum wage, you can have that modified as his income increases.

Answer Applies to: Arkansas
Replied: 11/3/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

You do not have to do anything he tells you to do. You need to file for divorce and get a court to set out the ground rules for alimony, child support, and property ownership. You need to do something before totally squanders everything.

Answer Applies to: Colorado
Replied: 11/3/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

Your legal rights are to file for divorce, and allege a DATE OF SEPARATION sometime BEFORE he cashed in the 401(k), and pray the court accepts that date. Otherwise you will not get one-half of the value of the 401(k). Your additional legal rights are to refuse to sell the property, obtain legal representation to protect your interest in your community assets. Your faille to get to court immediately will only lead to compromising your right to the 401(k). The longer you wait, the less chance you will have for that asset. When you are dealing with fragile economic issues, competent legal representation should always be sought, as the subject matter of the litigation is so very important. One mistake here could cause the biggest adverse consequence of your life!

Answer Applies to: California
Replied: 11/3/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

You don't have to sell the home unless a judge orders you to do so. Also, half of that 401k was yours, but you need to act quickly. Also, he should be paying you child support and possibly also assisting with other bills. You really need to consult with an attorney and file for divorce as soon as possible.

Answer Applies to: Florida
Replied: 11/3/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

You need to hire an attorney. Your husband cannot unilaterally force you to sell the family home unless he is the only owner. However, even if he were the only owner, if you made an application to the court, he could be prevented from selling it anyway.

Answer Applies to: New Jersey
Replied: 11/3/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

You need a divorce attorney NOW. A nasty one. One who will force him to pay sufficient money to keep you and the kids alive. His new girlfriend will have to wait. A long time.

Answer Applies to: New Jersey
Replied: 11/3/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

You need to file for divorce and ask for whatever you can get from that process (child support, spousal support, property and debt division). Outside of the divorce process there's no way to male him do anything.

Answer Applies to: Georgia
Replied: 11/3/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

Your "legal rights" are whatever you can convince a court to order. However, like most cases today, legal rights give way to practical reality. You are going to have to get a divorce action filed, and a temporary orders hearing set. You are also going to have to start looking for work. Now, if the court is convinced that your spouse voluntarily quit his job, at the temporary orders hearing, chances are that the court will order your spouse to pay child support based on what he was making when he was employed. You are going to have to get the documents necessary to show what that amount was. The court is also going to expect you to be looking for work. This is because the court's position is likely to be that both parents have an obligation to provide support for the children. As to the house: I certainly would not agree to sell the house and give him the money. However, there are practical matters to be considered. If he is not working and if you are not working, then, how is the house payment going to get made? If the house is at the point that it is about to go into foreclosure, the court may order the house sold and the net proceeds held in an attorney's trust account until some sort of agreement on the property division can be reached. This is because there is probably at least a little equity in the home and the court won't want that lost to a foreclosure.

Answer Applies to: Washington
Replied: 11/3/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.