Marital residence is a term used in divorce law to refer to the property where the couple resided together before the breakdown of the marriage. Once a spouse leaves the marital residence for a reasonable amount of time, which varies depending on the situation, that spouse may be found to have abandoned or deserted the remaining spouse.
In some cases, a spouse be entitled to a credit toward the marital residence, even when it is held jointly. For example, a down payment which is comprised of separate assets, may be backed out of the value of the property and returned to the party who contributed the separate asset, even where the property is deemed marital.
