Money, taxes and abuse..what are my rights?

I have been separated from my husband now since August 2011(5 months now)…We were married in May 2010…we purchased a home in Feb. 2011(the loan is in his name and the deed is in both of our names)…I lost my job in Feb. 2011 and became a house wife and provided care for our children(my step children and my biological child)We had been having financial issues which led to some pretty heated arguements up until Aug…and one evening we had an arguement which resulted with him not allowing me to leave the the bedroom, but when I was able to, he shoved me into the bathroom wall and punched me in the back.He ended up following me outside onto the deck which is about two stories high above the carport and kept shoving and pushing me and I about fell through the railings, which it did break two of the railing posts with my hip in the process. Fearful that he may do something worse or continue, I decided to leave that night to stay with my mother. And because I decided to leave, he made me give him my droid phone, the debit card and my diamond rings. I Being fearful of what he had done to me, i did not hesitate to give it to him. I just wanted to be out of there and out of harms way…and because of this, I was left with no phone and no money and less my diamonds which I thought should have been mine to keep. We are currently still only separated and since that time I have no longer lived with him, but have came by the house on two or three occasions to get my belongings. I just want to know what my rights are and I do not have $5,000 to spend on an attorney now…Can I sue him for damages for spousal abuse, the cost of my phone that I no longer have and for the value of my diamond rings? Am I entitled to get half of what was in the bank account at the time that I left and the savings account?..It is also tax time and can he file for his tax return without me present or sign any documents since we had purchased a home…Can he file separately without me? Do I have any rights to receiving a tax return with him since we did purchase a home together…We probably do not have enough equity in the house to be split 50/50 since we just purchased in Feb. of 2011…Just want to know my rights and forms that I need to fill out.

  1. You should probably stay away from him. You could’ve sought a 50B protective order at the time of the assault, but it has probably been too long now.
  2. You are likely entitled to a return of the rings and any other personal property he took from you. You may have to file for equitable distribution and return of separate property if he won’t voluntarily give the items back to you.
  3. You are entitled to equitable distribution of any marital property, and it is presumed that equitable means half.
  4. He is not allowed to sign your name to income tax returns unless you executed a power of a attorney in favor of him, but he could file an individual return without you.