Roz2 said:
I am now unemployed after 24 years except for a part time 14 hrs a week job. Can I get spousal support from my husband of 36 years? We have not lived togeather for 6 years. I have paid for our mobil home for the last 5 years without a dime from him and now I want him to pay his share of it both names are on it. He is living with another woman and has bought a new home, car ect. If we are still legally married is his half/my half?
My response:
It's highly doubtful that you'd be able to get an Order for Alimony after so many years. Since you've not lived together for 6 years, a judge would probably (more than likely) tell you that you haven't needed it before, so you don't need it now; i.e., you've been self-sufficient for 6 years.
As far as the house is concerned, again, a judge would probably order it sold and the proceeds equitably shared (not equally) between you. Or, you can sue him for "partition", which would require one of you to buy out the other's equity share, and to refinance the mortgage into their own name.
New York is not a Community Property State; e.g. like California. Therefore, everything that he has acquired after the separation would remain his, and likewise for you.
You should have gone after him years ago, when the "gettin'" was good. But, who knows, you might catch the ear of a sympathetic judge, so if you want to try, you'll have nothing to lose. Just don't expect much, if anything.
IAAL
