When I married my husband I had been working in the office of his business for over a year. This has been my only source of income for over 3 years. Through out our marriage he has gotten verbally abusive, to myself and my children. My two teenage daughters live with us. I keep thinking it will get better, but it never does. Every time we argue he tells me to pack up my stuff and leave. We live in Wisconsin, it is now late November, its getting cold. If I leave I have no job, no house... nothing. The only thing I have is my car. He knows he has me "over a barrell". I feel so helpless, can he kick me and the girls out in the winter? Doesn't me working for the business help me in any way? I want to leave and just start fresh, but I have nothing. Advise please?

Why can't you kick him out ? Did he own the house before you were married ? But he can not kick you out, until he files for divorce and ask for possession of the house and asks the court to have you move.

Also in divorce most likely he will have to pay you support.

He was building the house when I started to work for him, but finally signed the loan papers after we were married. Everything is in his name, or the business name. The business pays for all of our cell phones, he has threatened to cancel those, has threatened to put my 12 yr old indoor cat outside, he laughs at all this.

Divorce is a dirty business, know where all the "bodies" are buried, Know his customers, know his competition. You may be worth your weight in gold to someone who competes against him in the same business.

Also if you were part and helped the business grow, it may be worth money in divorce court. So know the books, know the profits and value now, compared to what it was when you got married.

The house is the marital home. He can't kick you out unless a divorce court orders you out. It has nothing to do with whose name the house is in.

You can file for divorce first and ask for the house.

But your working for his business has no bearing. If you were a part owner of the business that might matter.

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But your working for his business has no bearing. If you were a part owner of the business that might matter.

I would argue it's a marital asset.

I would argue it's a marital asset.

So? Yes, she can ask for a share of the business in the divorce as a marital asset. Not sure how that would fly if he had the business pre-marriage. But the fact that she works for the business as a salaried employee has no bearing on his ability to remove her from the marital home.