Divorce from bed & board

I have been married for almost 12 years. The past 6 years have been really hard as my husband drinks every day. He buys most of his beer with his debit card and generally I calculate he drinks at least 3 - 24 packs of beer each week that he buys from the corner beer store. He was arrested in July 2008 for DUI and blew almost twice the legal limit. He has went through $75,000 in savings and depleted all of our accounts. He now has a job that he thinks I don’t know about and is setting up a secret checking account in an attempt not to pay much child support. He currently pays the mortgage payment and electric bill only. He does not contribute to any expenses incurred with our children. Our children are 17, 10 & 3. The 2 youngest are our children and the 17 year old is my daughter from a previous relationship. I do not want to move my children from our home as it would be devastating for my middle daughter and him not working for 2 years placed us in a financial bind.

[color=#FF0000][b]Is there any way I can have him removed from the house?[/color]

We do own our home and we do own business equipment but he has said he will let the house foreclose before he will pay me any equity or child support. He tried to sell the house to his Mother so she could kick me & the girls out and he would sell it for what is owed but he can’t sell it without my signature so if I leave he will let the house foreclose. He bought the house 6 months before we were married and paid $12,000 down. I contributed to it but at the time I just took money from the bank and gave him cash instead of writing a check to him over the course of the year we saved the down payment. I pay the equity payment, cell phones, food, insurance and all expenses for the girls. We have always maintained separate bank accounts. We own $50,000 in shop equipment and have $60,000 equity in our home.

While habitual drunkenness is a grounds for divorce from bed and board (judicially ordered separation), the judge does not have to order him out of the house, even if there are findings supporting an order for divorce from bed and board.

Are you saying that if there are findings that support an order of divorce from bed and board, the offender may still be able to stay in the house?

Yes, the court does not have to remove the offending spouse from the home.

Then what is the purpose of a divorce from bed and board action? I’m confused because I thought the whole point of a DBB was to remove an abusive/addicted spouse from the home.

No, it is a legal way to cut off estate rights- it is a legal separation, but the offending spouse is not necessarily ordered out of the home.

What do you need to support the claim of divorce from bed & board? I have all the bank statements where he swipes the debit card to purchase alcohol and I keep a daily log of how much is in the house in the morning and how much is in the house at night after he goes to bed. Nobody else drinks in our house and he has no friends over to share with.

How do you proceed to get a divorce from bed & board?

You will need to file a Complaint for the same based on habitual drunkeness, and be prepared to present your evidence in court.