# splitting the house into two?



## PieceOfSky (Apr 7, 2013)

Anyone have experience divorcing but physically partitioning the house into two, until the kids move out?

I have heard such a case mentioned tangentially and vaguely positively in an article or book I read, but have lost track of it.

The house we have happens to be laid out so that with modest amount of construction, I could have separate living quarters encompassing the current master bath, upstairs laundry, the large walk-in master-suite closet, and my office. Square footage would be adequate for me, and a small kitchen could be squeezed in. I could have my own entrance from inside the attached garage (below), and perhaps a lockable and fairly isolated door for the kids to pass back and forth through upstairs.

The point would be to disrupt the kids' lives as little as possible, but still make a fairly clean end to my marriage. I could imagine my wife agreeing to it, because (1) I think it will be difficult, perhaps impossible, for her to afford to take ownership of the house post-divorce, and (2) through the years she has been adamant about staying on night shift and will be faced with either switching to the ("unbearably" stressful) day shift or not having the kids the nights she works (which will need to increase from three to five days or nights per week, regardless).

The plan would be to reach legally binding settlement during the divorce (removing one name from the deed, signing a lease or whatever for the other, integrating all this fairly in the overall divorce settlement). After our youngest graduates from high school, the lease would expire, and the one not on the deed would move out.


Maybe it's a pipe dream. But, it would be helpful to know if anyone has tried it, or has observed such being tried, and how it went.

Thanks.


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## SecondTime'Round (Jan 15, 2015)

I think there is a very, very small percentage of people who would be able to emotionally handle such an arrangement. What happens when either/both of you start another relationship?


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## happy as a clam (Jan 5, 2014)

DO IT!!!

It sounds like an awesome plan! Least disruption to the kiddos...

Wish I could have done this in my divorce case. Ex was a D*ck (with a capital "D") so I ended up moving to my own condo (with my lawyer's consent and approval).

Sorry for what you are going through.


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## happy as a clam (Jan 5, 2014)

SecondTime'Round said:


> What happens when either/both of you start another relationship?


That's what hotel rooms are for!!

:smthumbup:


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## behappy123 (Jan 5, 2013)

If you and your wife felt like it would work for you, then I say that I don't see the problem. That being said, I personally would never be able to do something like that because even though you are living in separate areas, there will still be several times that you will run into each other. If you are looking for a clean break, I don't feel like this would be the way to go. I completely understand you wanting to make is as easy on your kids as possible, but it is going to be hard on them no matter what. Living so close to each other but not WITH each other might be more confusing for them than If you lived in different houses. Also, how are each of you going to feel if the other starts dating someone? Hope that helps. Good luck!


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## PieceOfSky (Apr 7, 2013)

SecondTime'Round said:


> I think there is a very, very small percentage of people who would be able to emotionally handle such an arrangement. What happens when either/both of you start another relationship?


I think you are right.

That future relationships would be complicated had crossed my mind. My first thought would be to agree to keeping the most awkward part of such relationships (e.g, overnight stays) off the premises -- thinking that's what she and I would probably do for some significant period of time before ever becoming "serious" with another anyways, for those days and nights the kids would be under our respective roofs (the difference being in this case, there is one roof and they'd be under it seven days a week).

Second thought is making the lease, after the first couple of years, something we'd both have to agree to renew yearly.


My youngest has six years before high school graduation.


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## gouge_away (Apr 7, 2015)

I think you will realize, damn this is perfect, I can see the kids and bang the wife and go home.

That being said, you might have the nicest dog house on the block


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