Estimated reading time (in minutes)
Abandonment of marital home is recorded only for a married couple. Indeed, marriage implies a commitment to the community of life. Leaving home is not enough to justify a divorce at the fault of the spouse but can be a useful element.
Since when ?
Marriage imposed on a community of life between the spouses. The abandonment of the marital home refers to the fact that a spouse leaves the home without informing his spouse. Only a judge can put an end to this community of life between the spouses when he is seized of an application for divorce or legal separation. The abandonment of residence is not a sufficient element to justify a divorce at the expense of the spouse, but it constitutes proof of a breach of the obligation of community of life.
How to prove it?
A day book deposited with a police station can be used to record the voluntary departure of the spouse. To this can be added a bailiff’s declaration in the event that the spouse who has left the domicile contests his departure.
What are the consequences?
Abandoning the marital home is not a necessary or sufficient condition to obtain a divorce at the expense of the “offending” spouse. However, in the context of a divorce, it is important to have this abandonment of the marital home noted in order to be able to claim damages.
Are there valid causes?
In the case of domestic violence, the victim cannot be blamed for having distanced himself from his violent partner to protect himself or his children. It is then necessary to deposit a handrail and to make note this violence by a medical certificate, ideally of a medico-legal institute.
Société d’Avocats DAMY , Nice, When is the marital home abandoned? 2022
