I’m sure so many people have gone through similar and I’m sure there’s info out there but I just feel so lost on how to do this.
background: I’ve (33f) been with my husband (35m) for 15+ years and we have three children ages spanning from a teen to toddler (being somewhat vague on purpose I’m sorry). I found out last year that my husband was unfaithful. Long story short I’ve been in a state of limbo of just coexisting out of comfort while knowing I will be so much happier once I can finally make the decision to leave.
I just don’t know how to go about separating. We bought our house a few years ago, have two cars. We have a good amount of debt. I feel like we can barely afford our mortgage with dual incomes so I don’t even see how it’s possible to afford rent on a place that can accommodate children. I have the option to live with my family out of state and he knows that’s what I’d do but living 6+ hours away from their dad didn’t even seem feasible as far as custody arrangements go.
Where do you even start with the process and getting financial independence and figuring out how to sell a house and custody while doing it as inexpensive as possible. Can we just legally separate without an official divorce and would that save money for now. How do we split up bills while going through this. I just have so many questions and feel absolutely paralyzed from the weight of it all. So much so that I’d rather stay in this lifeless marriage and life then try and figure out how to navigate any of this.