Legally lock out your spouse

ReadyOne

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This is a generic request for legal advice based on a story. Not a real situation. Just want to know what the possibilities might be in a story.

Assume a partner committed an unpardonable sin. Look at page 2 of GeorgeAnderson's recent tale February Sucks for an example.

You have lost all trust and faith, are very angry, and expect they will be also when you tell them you want them out and you're starting a divorce. You wouldn't be surprised if they threw a tantrum and trashed the home and/or your belongings.

You are married and both names are on a title deed/mortgage or lease agreement. Locking them out could cause you big problems; in theory they have as much right to be there are you do.

If you live in California, I suppose there is nothing you could do to protect yourself except to get a U-Haul and start packing before they get home. When they do arrive, they call the cops who tell you the courts won't let you keep your spouse out and they will arrest you if don't let the spouse in.

In another state, could you change the locks (new ones at 24 hour wally world) and tell the cops the spouse is not getting in? What if the spouse broke in the next day when you went to work?

You could pack and move out. But wouldn't that be abandonment when things got to court?

Could you work something where there is a law about domestic disturbances which require the cops to move one party out?

What if you paid for the spouse to live at a by the week place for a week, and the cops (or neighbors) watched them just get their clothes and toiletries? Could you move all their things to a storage unit and agrue they have everything (bed, clothes, kitchen) they need for a week?

Of course that assume you have lots of spare cash...

Any ideas how you could legally keep the spouse out for a few days until you can get to court and file for a divorce and/or restraining order? Short of video of them beating you up, could you even get an order?

Given that state and community laws differ, would you be able to do something in only a few states, or in many, or most states?

----

I know what I'd like to do in a story, but I suspect the comments would be filled with "not real", "legal b. s.", "never be allowed where I live", "get real".
 
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Lying

You could commit perjury and say they threatened to attack you and have a history of unreported violence, thereby gaining an order and ensuring they legally can't enter the house or apartment.

That would be a plot twist.
 
Be aware that some people take extreme offense about things like that.

A restraining order doesn't stop a bullet in the head... or a cable tie around the neck.

Make DAMNED sure you know you are right and what you can live with. as well as without.

Or the might simply set fire to it one night.

Life is NOT a game.
 
OK. Your suggestions sound a bit suspect and a lil douchey. If you want to leave, just pack up your stuff and leave when they're out of the house. You can serve them wit a writ of divorce and have your lawyer negotiate a time when you can return to retrieve the remainder of your stuff when the person is out. Bam. Done.

Oddly, men who are typically abusive are the ones who attempt to lock their wives out of their homes. So be very careful with your attempts and just let your wife move out through normal divorce lawyer pathways --

This is a generic request for legal advice based on a story. Not a real situation. Just want to know what the possibilities might be in a story.

Assume a partner committed an unpardonable sin. Look at page 2 of GeorgeAnderson's recent tale February Sucks for an example.

You have lost all trust and faith, are very angry, and expect they will be also when you tell them you want them out and you're starting a divorce. You wouldn't be surprised if they threw a tantrum and trashed the home and/or your belongings.

You are married and both names are on a title deed/mortgage or lease agreement. Locking them out could cause you big problems; in theory they have as much right to be there are you do.

If you live in California, I suppose there is nothing you could do to protect yourself except to get a U-Haul and start packing before they get home. When they do arrive, they call the cops who tell you the courts won't let you keep your spouse out and they will arrest you if don't let the spouse in.

In another state, could you change the locks (new ones at 24 hour wally world) and tell the cops the spouse is not getting in? What if the spouse broke in the next day when you went to work?

You could pack and move out. But wouldn't that be abandonment when things got to court?

Could you work something where there is a law about domestic disturbances which require the cops to move one party out?

What if you paid for the spouse to live at a by the week place for a week, and the cops (or neighbors) watched them just get their clothes and toiletries? Could you move all their things to a storage unit and agrue they have everything (bed, clothes, kitchen) they need for a week?

Of course that assume you have lots of spare cash...

Any ideas how you could legally keep the spouse out for a few days until you can get to court and file for a divorce and/or restraining order? Short of video of them beating you up, could you even get an order?

Given that state and community laws differ, would you be able to do something in only a few states, or in many, or most states?

----

I know what I'd like to do in a story, but I suspect the comments would be filled with "not real", "legal b. s.", "never be allowed where I live", "get real".
 
This is a generic request for legal advice based on a story. Not a real situation. Just want to know what the possibilities might be in a story.

One way to handle this is to assume that there would be consequences to your protagonist doing this, and incorporate those consequences into the story.
 
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You could commit perjury and say they threatened to attack you and have a history of unreported violence, thereby gaining an order and ensuring they legally can't enter the house or apartment.

OP asked about legal options. Perjury is illegal.
 
OK. Your suggestions sound a bit suspect and a lil douchey. If you want to leave, just pack up your stuff and leave when they're out of the house. You can serve them wit a writ of divorce and have your lawyer negotiate a time when you can return to retrieve the remainder of your stuff when the person is out. Bam. Done.

Oddly, men who are typically abusive are the ones who attempt to lock their wives out of their homes. So be very careful with your attempts and just let your wife move out through normal divorce lawyer pathways --

Yeah, this. Somebody who's concerned about their spouse wrecking stuff would be well advised to document the state of the place - take photos etc. - and mention that, so the spouse knows there will be evidence if they decide to trash things.

But unless there's some past history that might invite a restraining order or similar, no, you can't pre-emptively evict a co-owner/co-lessee from their home. That's kind of the point of being an owner/lessee.

Since this is a fictional story, if OP wants the wife leaving the house, it's probably easier to come up with other explanations - maybe she doesn't want to be around her husband either, and is willing to go stay with relatives.
 
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