No one can kick you out of your own house, including a spouse who wants to divorce you, although courts typically give the house to the parent who has the children during the week.

If your spouse wants to keep the house, insist that he or she refinance the mortgage so you’re no longer responsible for the payments. If he or she doesn’t refinance and pays late, your credit will be blemished. When you try to buy another house, your lender may count the mortgage on the old house against you. If you agree to wait to sell the house until the kids leave for college, talk to your accountant about the tax situation.

Get a full credit report for each spouse from each of the three credit reporting agencies at www.annualcreditreport.com (free once a year) so you know exactly how much you both owe. Once you decide who is paying which debts, close each account and move those balances to new accounts that are not joint accounts — in case one of you pays late. If you live in a community property state (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin), you may be responsible for your spouse’s debt even if it’s not a joint account.

Cancel all joint credit cards and lines of credit immediately and have your mail sent to a mailbox that locks to ensure your spouse doesn't have access to pre-approved joint account offers that come in the mail. Write to each of the three credit reporting agencies (www.experian.com, www.transunion.com and www.equifax.com) to let them know you are divorced or separated.

In community property states, you each keep what you brought into the marriage, things you inherit, court awards, and pensions earned before you married, so gather any documents that prove what you had before you wed.