Dear Claudine,
I had been married for one year and four months when I left my family home. I have no children. Three people have confirmed to me since I left my family home that my husband has been having an affair. My husband has now changed the locks on our home and I cannot gain access. I was renting a room close to my job but I lost my job eight months ago and have moved home with my parents. I did contact a solicitor who wrote to my husband but he ignored the letters. I took out a car loan for him of €14,000 which I was paying and he has refused to acknowledge this debt. I can no longer pay this loan or my half of the mortgage. My husband has since dropped all my belongings to my parent’s house.
Many thanks for your help in advance.

Dear Noeleen,
Thank you very much for your e-mail. I can only imagine the very difficult time which you are experiencing and hopefully my advice can assist you in clarifying the issues which you have raised. Firstly, to be eligible to obtain a Separation Agreement, spouses must be living separate and apart for at least one year. To seek a Judicial Separation through the Courts, your particular circumstances have fulfilled three of the criteria namely, that your husband has committed adultery, that he has behaved in such a way that you cannot reasonably be expected to live with him and that your husband has conducted himself in such a manner that with just cause you have left the family home, also known as ‘Constructive desertion’. As a solicitor has already notified your husband that you are seeking a legal Separation and he has ignored this correspondence, you really have no alternative but to now consult a solicitor in relation to issuing Judicial Separation proceedings. In advance of that however, you are perfectly entitled to return to your family home provided no Court Orders have been made against you. Your husband cannot unilaterally change the locks on your family home as you are a joint owner of the property. If you are in fear for your safety then it may not be advisable to return to your family home unless you have obtained a Barring/Safety/Protection Order against him, you can apply for these Orders at Dolphin House, District Court where a District Court Judge will decide whether your circumstances warrant such Order(s) being granted. As you are not working at the moment you are entitled to obtain Legal Aid and you might like to contact a Legal Aid Board or Citizens Advice Bureau in your area. All of the assets and liabilities of the marriage must be disclosed by both of you in advance of signing any Agreement or alternatively, where no agreement can be reached in advance of issuing Judicial Separation proceedings. You are both required to complete an Affidavit of Means setting out your assets to include pension details, liabilities and weekly expenses, etc. .You have advised that you lost your job eight months ago. If you received a redundancy lump sum payment then this must be disclosed in your Affidavit of Means. As your husband’s Car loan is in your name only then you are personally liable to discharge this debt though this may form part of negotiations for your husband to take responsibility for this debt. I assume that your family home and the mortgage is in your joint names. Effectively, this means that you are both jointly and severally liable to pay this mortgage back to your Lending Institution. It may be prudent for you to contact your Lending Institution and request that your mortgage be changed to an Interest only mortgage rather than allow arrears to be accumulated on your mortgage. Whether your husband can buy out your interest in the Family Home or even pay maintenance to you as his dependent Spouse will depend on his earning capacity. However, in reality if you are only married for 16 months and you bought your home in the last 3/4 years there is probably very little difference between the valuation of your home and the mortgage. This would leave you both with very little Equity in the property after the mortgage was discharged. Usually, it is the Equity in the property which is divided between the Spouses in deciding how much one Spouse should pay to the other to buy out their interest in their family home. Also, as you are jointly named on the mortgage it is unlikely that your lending Institution would consent to your husband taking your name of the mortgage.
I hope that the above advice is helpful to you and please contact me if I can assist you any further with this or indeed any matter.

With Every Good Wish,

Claudine