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What constitutes abandonment from residense

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  • What constitutes abandonment from residense

    Good morning everyone,

    I have quite a dilemma here. My son 34 and his wife are separated. He is not allowed to go into the house to get his things except with a police officer which he has done...only personal items

    The wife's brother and his son are living there but the wife and 2 children have not been around for a week. The brother has no legal claim on anything meaning his name on the lease ect.

    Half of everything in the house is my sons. My question is
    "is there a time limit as to how long she can be away and my son can claim she has left the marital home?"

    Thanks everyone, open to all suggestions
    L

  • #2
    The main question would be, does she have a new permanent residence.

    This would be shown by her having changed the address on her driver's license, OHIP, with insurance companies (life, health, car), if she has signed a lease for a new apartment, is she paying utilities bills at the new home? Where does CRA send her NOA?

    What doesn't matter is if she is still paying utilities and insurance for the old home. Many landlord/tenant situations have the utilities and insurance in the landlord's name, so this doesn't prove she still living in the old house.

    If she is staying with relatives or at a friend's, or more likely a boyfriend's, this does not mean she has changed residence. It could be temporary.

    Given the time of year and that there children involved, you could look at what school the children are registered in, and what home address is given. This would be the easiest factual proof to get, showing that she has moved out of the home.

    Meanwhile, I think you are stating that your son only has his personal possessions and that most of the items in the house are half-his, such as furniture, appliances, etc. These items do not have to be physically split, they may just be tallied in the equaliztion and the value split.

    I suggest that he should quickly move on this. Make a list of all items in the house belonging to both. Assess a current fair value, by going to Craigslist and determining the cost of similar items. Go so far as to print off Craigslist/Kajijii pages showing the items, date, asking price so that you have factual evidence of the value. You may have a lot of pages, that is ok.

    Tally up the total worth of the contents of the house (as far as he knows what those contents should be.) If you can complete the rest of the net asset calculations - home value, RRSPs, vehicles - then do the whole thing. Start the process of equalization. If you are not ready to do the full equalization, then at least send the ex the list of the home contents and the value.

    In a business-like letter, state that this is the value of the contents of the home as you know it. State that you expect the value of the items to be split fairly. State that if she has a difference of opinion then you expect the contents to be independently assessed. State that you wish to move forward on equalization and that if she cannot afford to buy him out of the home, then they both have to move forward on its sale.

    That should get the ball rolling.

    Comment


    • #3
      I dont think there is a house that needs to be sold, she did mention that the brother isn't on the lease. I am thinking a rental so he should contact the landlord. If it is a rental and the brother isnt on the lease then the landlord may have some issues.
      Last edited by standing on the sidelines; 07-28-2013, 05:36 PM.

      Comment


      • #4
        Either she's on vacation and has her brother in the house to look after it, probably including keeping your son out of it, or she's moved out and let her brother move in. Your son ought to be able to figure which it is by where he picks up the children for his access, and if his ex gave him notice that she was taking the kids on vacation.

        Before he moved out, he hopefully got a fair idea of what was in the house, and the approximate value. Then his share of it gets covered by equalization if he never sees it again.

        How long have they been separated? And do they own the home, or was it a rental? It's only a matrimonial home if they own it, though of course the contents are still half his.

        And what is the hope behind the question? If she has moved out (abandoned the stuff) then he thinks he can go collect half or all of the contents?

        Comment


        • #5
          It's only been a week since the wife and kids were in the house? And it's summer? I think you're jumping the gun to start thinking about whether she's abandoned the residence or not. She could easily have gone out of town for a visit. Does your son have contact with the kids? Has that contact been interrupted? That is more important than whether the wife and kids have been sleeping in the house for the last seven days.

          I don't believe there's any time limit for determining that someone has "abandoned the marital home". If she and your son were renting, the house is not marital property. As long as her name is on the lease and the rent is being paid, it's between her and the landlord.

          As for the contents of the house go, Mess gave you all the steps to take. When assessing value, remember that you're looking at the *current* value of the items (what they could be sold for), which is probably going to be less than the replacement costs of the items.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by stripes View Post
            It's only been a week since the wife and kids were in the house? And it's summer? I think you're jumping the gun to start thinking about whether she's abandoned the residence or not. She could easily have gone out of town for a visit. Does your son have contact with the kids? Has that contact been interrupted? That is more important than whether the wife and kids have been sleeping in the house for the last seven days.

            I don't believe there's any time limit for determining that someone has "abandoned the marital home". If she and your son were renting, the house is not marital property. As long as her name is on the lease and the rent is being paid, it's between her and the landlord.

            As for the contents of the house go, Mess gave you all the steps to take. When assessing value, remember that you're looking at the *current* value of the items (what they could be sold for), which is probably going to be less than the replacement costs of the items.
            As long as the OPs son is still on the lease he is also responsible. There could be a clause in the lease that doesnt allow people who are not on the lease to stay there for an extended time.

            Comment


            • #7
              if it's a rent it doesn;t matter. if it's owned it's hard to say she abandoned the residence unless she rents another house and moves out.

              Comment

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