Assault

My husband assaulted me back in December, was held and realeased on bail. He pled guilty and his bail conditions were dropped.
My lawyer has told me that we have to go through the two year divorce, so basically I have to share this house. Surely assault is a reason for divorce.

Why are you connecting up the fact that it''s going to take two years to get the divorce with him being able to enter the house. Have you applied for an ex-parte occupation order for the property, if the property is in his sole name and your concerned about that then you can register your "home rights" with the land registry I don''t see why he would be allowed back in if he''s assaulted you and admitted his guilt.

There is a different legal system in Scotland. Spouses automatically have home rights and they don''t need to be registered. When there is evidence of domestic abuse you can apply to the sheriff court for an interdict and/or an exclusion order to prevent your spouse from entering the property.

Assault is unreasonable behaviour and strictly speaking you can apply to divorce before 2 years. The problem is the finances and arrangements for any children are heard "ancillary" to the divorce before the decree is granted. It can take you two years to get the divorce anyway and the legal costs can amount to tens of thousands of pounds. Usually it''s more straightforward and a lot cheaper to wait two years to apply for divorce without consent when emotions aren''t running so high.