Also known as: marital homes · matrimonial home · family home
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A family residence occupied by the spouses. In dissolution proceedings the court may award temporary possession to one spouse upon a showing that physical or emotional harm would otherwise result.
In probate the value of any constitutional homestead interest in the family home is charged against the surviving spouse's homestead allowance.
A family residence occupied by the spouses. In dissolution proceedings the court may award temporary possession to one spouse upon a showing that physical or emotional harm would otherwise result.
Michelle Murphy petitions for divorce and shows that her husband has threatened physical harm. The court issues a temporary order excluding the husband from the marital home where the couple's two children reside, allowing Murphy and the children to remain until further proceedings.
Mohan Malhotra and his wife challenge a state statute that criminalizes contraceptive counseling inside their home. The court recognizes that the marital home receives constitutional protection against government intrusion into intimate decisions of married couples.
In probate the value of any constitutional homestead interest in the family home is charged against the surviving spouse's homestead allowance.
Musa Mensah dies owning the marital home in fee simple. His surviving spouse receives a constitutional homestead life estate in the home. The probate court values that life estate at $80,000 and reduces the spouse's statutory homestead allowance by that amount before distributing other estate assets.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Mustafa Mahmoud, subject to a protective order, enters the marital home and assaults his estranged wife. Prosecutors charge him with rape. The court rejects any marital exemption because the order had already terminated the legal incidents of marriage.
Mina Mehta's first husband dies leaving pension benefits acquired during their marriage. The second wife claims the benefits are separate. The Court holds that the first wife's community interest in the pension survives and passes to her heirs.
Mason McCarthy is served with divorce papers while visiting the marital home in California for a brief stay. The court exercises personal jurisdiction over him because physical presence within the state at the time of service satisfies due process requirements.
Courts consider the best interests of any minor children, the financial resources of each spouse, and the need to avoid disruption. When physical or emotional harm is shown, a temporary order may exclude one spouse entirely from the residence.
No. Temporary exclusion orders require an affirmative showing that physical or emotional harm would otherwise result to the other party or children.
Yes. The value of any constitutional homestead right in the family home is charged against the surviving spouse's homestead allowance to the extent the home would otherwise have been part of the decedent's estate.
…statutes here involved deal with a particularly important and sensitive area of privacy—that of the marital relation and the marital home. This Court recognized in Meyer v. Nebraska, supra , that the right "to marry, establish a home and bring up children" was an essential part of the liberty guaranteed by the Fourteenth…