If you and your spouse are thinking about getting a divorce, then you might be planning on moving out of the marital home as soon as you can. This might seem like a natural step to take in this situation, but in many cases, just moving out of the house without going through the right process can be a bad thing. A few reasons why you should consult a divorce attorney and put some thought into your next steps before you move out are listed below.

It Might Be Harder to Gather Information

When preparing for your divorce, there is certain information that you are going to need to compile. You will need to have documents about how much you and your spouse make, what your possessions are, and how much money you have in the bank, for example. If you go ahead and move out without gathering this information, you might find that it's a lot harder for you to gather all of this essential information from outside of the marital home.

It Could Affect Your Divorce

If you move out of the marital home, then depending on the laws in your state and the details of your divorce, you could be accused of spousal abandonment. This could make your divorce more complicated and could even leave you having to pay alimony payments.

It Could Affect Child Custody

If you have children with your spouse, then you might want to continue to see your children even after moving out of the marital home. However, if you just move out of the house without any type of custody order in place, this might be more difficult than you think. It's best to consult a family lawyer and go through the process of getting a child custody order—at least a temporary order—so that you will still be able to spend time with your children.

You Could Be Affected Financially

Lastly, be aware that if you leave the marital home and are not taking care of household bills, then you could be affected financially. For example, if your spouse doesn't—or can't—pay the mortgage on time, then you could be at risk of foreclosure. If utility bills or other bills are not paid in a timely manner, then your credit score could be affected. Making sure that all of these matters are sorted out before moving out can help you make sure that you aren't financially affected any more than necessary.

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