My husband has moved out of our marital and home and in with his girlfreind does this mean I can keep the house on grounds of desertion

HI, bessie,
I am not a lawyer, nor a Professional in this area.
Please get a lawyer. In some states, you would want to file Separation Papers, saying you will live apart for a certain time.
A lawyer can help you with the house part. Normally, a house is sold, giving equal shares to both concerned; unless one party can "pay off" to the other.
I do wish you the best, and good luck.

Fredg brings up some good points.

You should contact a lawyer.

However, unless the place you live has some special law, I would say no, the house is still his (well, half of it).

You can own property and not reside there.

No, it merely means you may live there until you go to court and have a property settlement ruled on.

You will need to file for divorce, request specific property and money and support if called for. Also all of the debts need to be decided on also.

It will be up to the court to decide who gets what, unless the two of you can agree, but the judge will still have to sign it

You may be able to. If the house is in his name as well you could have a tough fight ahead of you. A lot depends on the judge. Legally the house is as much his as it is yours but the fact that he deserted you and moved to another residence may sway the judge to consider him as having "abandoned" his "half" of the house and declare it to legally be strictly yours. Speak with an attorney who specializes in family law for firsthand advice. If you don't know one then contact the lawyer referral service for your county of residence (in the Yellow Pages or online) and inform them that you need counsel for a family law matter involving division of marital property.

The same happened to me & I ended up with the house... staying in it gave me some rights. I'm in Australia... let me know if you'd like me to elaborate. Didee