Does moving out of the marital home constitute abandonment?
When a marriage is breaking down, it may be prudent for one partner to move out of the marital home to protect the physical or emotional health of family members. Such a move can be a first step toward counseling and possible reconciliation, or if the marriage can’t be saved, toward filing for divorce. New clients often ask us if moving out in such circumstances might constitute abandonment or desertion, or otherwise place them at a disadvantage in divorce proceedings. To answer this question, it may help to review some basics of divorce law. When two adults want to end their marriage in New Hampshire, the simplest approach is generally to file for divorce on the ground of “irreconcilable differences leading to an irremediable breakdown of the marriage.” Commonly known as no-fault divorce, this is the ground for over 90 percent of New Hampshire divorces. Indeed, either spouse acting alone can end a marriage this way, even if the other wants to keep the marriage intact. No-fault divorce
