DEAR MRS MACAULAY,

I have been married for over 18 years and in 2015 my husband stabbed me, ran off (migrated), and divorced me without my knowledge. He remarried and divorced again, and now he has come back to Jamaica, claiming that I need to get out of his house. I have been living in that house since 1998. He’s also threatening to throw out my stuff. We have two children together and I was taking care of them by myself, but he had filed for them. I have nowhere to go. What are my rights, and what steps should I take?

What your husband, and I am purposely referring to him as such, is trying to do is unconscionable. Firstly, if as you say he purported to divorce you after he “ran off (migrated)” after he committed a serious criminal offence when he stabbed you, and without your knowledge, without serving you with his petition to terminate your marriage, the decree of divorce which he obtained would have been and is null and void. This is the case because he would clearly have lied and misled the court that you had been served with all the relevant documents. Any decree made in such circumstances is null and void, and any application for such a declaration would succeed without a doubt.

Anyway, he ran off and left you and the children of the marriage in the family home. You were left to bear all the burdens, financial and otherwise, as you had to provide for yourself and the children and you had to meet all the expenses for their maintenance, education, medical and otherwise, and also for the upkeep and repairs of the family home. Then you say he later filed for them, which I assume was successfully achieved as you would not have stood in their way. You also say that he remarried there, which with his purported divorce of you being null and void, would also be null and void, and he would have committed bigamy.

He is clearly a very unstable man. You should have reported him to the police when he stabbed you, and if he is in any way violent to you or threatens you, you must report it so that he can be dealt with as the law provides.

Anyway, now he has returned and he has told you that you need to get out of the home where you have lived continuously from 1998 — with him until he went off, and with your children who you had to care for and bring up and provide for on your own. And you have remained in this family home until now. You solely looked after the home and the children for many years and provided for its upkeep in every way.

You do have rights in law and you are entitled to a one-half share of the family home. These premises have been the family home from 1998 and for 18 of those years, you were his wife. And in my opinion, you still are because he purported to divorce you without your knowledge and this can be declared upon application.

The Property (Rights of Spouses) Act 2004 contains the provisions which clearly state the law which gives you your right to one-half interest in the premises. There is no doubt about it, even if the title is only in his name as the sole proprietor. And, in addition, you may be able to obtain more than one-half because of his conduct of running off and leaving you and the children to fare as best you could while he was doing more questionable things as far as the law is concerned.

It could (and should be argued on your behalf) that by his conduct, he abandoned his interest in the premises and so the whole interest should be yours. In the alternative, it should be argued that you must have your one-half and that he must compensate you for all the years of your sole upkeep of the premises.

So, you must go and get yourself a lawyer as soon as possible to file your claims, either in the Supreme Court or the Family Court for your parish, depending on the market value of the premises. The filing should be for a declaration that the premises was and is the family home; and a declaration that you are entitled to one-half interest, and a declaration that he (the respondent in your claim) abandoned his interest in the family home and so you are entitled to the whole interest, or in the alternative that he must compensate you in the sum of whatever amount for your expenditures in maintaining the children and the family home solely for whatever number of years. You and your lawyer would have to work out how much these amount to.

Your lawyer would then include your claims for the consequential orders to be made so that the declarations made can be effected and you can realise your entitlements.

Remember, this man was legally bound to continue to provide for his children’s maintenance until they went to him or attained their majority if they were then not pursuing any form of education or skills training. Your lawyer should also add a claim for him to pay the costs of your claim because of his egregiously bad conduct which caused you to have to file your claim for your entitlement. And, if he is continuing to be threatening or physically abusive in any way, your lawyer should also add a claim for injunctive orders to be made for your protection. Also, that he or she has the power of sale of the premises (which would also be part of the consequential orders sought) and to dispense the funds between you both as ordered by the court.

I hope that I have assisted you. You must get your lawyer quickly because only a court of law with the necessary jurisdiction can ensure that you obtain all or most of what you are entitled to by law, and which your husband must obey or land in jail if he breaches any of them.

I stress again, please act quickly, rather than waste time and allow him to act against you, and then you have to rush to the law to repair your situation.

Margarette May Macaulay is an attorney-at-law, Supreme Court mediator, notary public, and women’s and children’s rights advocate. Send questions via e-mail to
allwoman@jamaicaobserver.com
; or write to All Woman, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5. All responses are published. Mrs Macaulay cannot provide personal responses.