The assignment of the family home in the delicate dynamics of family crisis.

How are the criteria for allocating a family home to a separated or divorced spouse with children and adolescents or adult children determined?

The allocation of the family home is a topic of ongoing interest in national case-law of both legitimacy and merit, as it represents a delicate step in the dynamics of the family crisis and the home is the main centre of family gathering.

There is agreement that the allocation of the family home must be decided according to the overriding interest of the children and adolescent or children who are not self-sufficient in preserving the environment in which the previous family life took place.

In the event of separation, the family home must be assigned giving priority to the interest of the children and of the adult children who are not economically self-sufficient in remaining in the home where they grew up, this being the centre of their attachment, in order to guarantee the maintenance of their living habits and of the social relations that are rooted in that environment.