Recent Feedback
My wife left and separated from me last august. We live in VA and have to wait 1 year before filing for divorce. She is coming up on losing her lease, has no job and no way to support herself. So while I was gone with our kids last week, she took it upon herself to move her stuff and herself back into my house against my will. What are my legal rights and how can I remove her from my house. It's a rental by the way. Thank you
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: Virginia Already Tried: Told her I didn't agree with her moving back in and asked her to leave.
Thank you for your question. I will do my best to assist you with your concerns. If you would like me to clarify my answer, I will be happy to do so.
If I may ask, was she ever on the lease herself or is the lease solely in your name? How did she get a key to the residence?
she was and is on the lease. she lived here for 2 years before leaving and my kids have keys and she likely used one of theirs We Split Custody and I allow my kids to come here whenever they want. Thanks
Thank you for your follow-up.Hmm, the only real way of getting her out is for you to go back to court and requesting a writ of sole occupancy from the court. Since she moved out and abandoned the premises, she could have been kept out of the premises once she did so, but if she moved in and her name never removed from the lease, she can claim that she still has rights to the property (I assume you never modified the lease with the landlord and removed her name from the title). Therefore she can argue that once she was let back in, she simply re-took her rights and is again a legal tenant. You can try to call the police, claim that she is a trespasser, and try to get them to remove her, but they would very likely state that this is a civil issue and tell you to go to court so as to obtain a formal writ to force her to leave. I wish there was an easier answer here, but if she is still on the lease and she had a key, she can claim that she never left.Good luck.
Kindly remember to only rate my answer when you are fully satisfied. If you feel the need to rate my service as either "Bad" or "Poor”, please stop and reply to me via the CONTINUE CONVERSATION button with whatever issue or clarification you may need. I will be happy to continue further and assist you until I was able to explain your concern to your satisfaction.
Please be aware that if you give any rating below 3 stars then I will not be compensated in any way for helping you today. Good luck to you!
Experience: I provide family and divorce law advice to my clients in my firm.