Husband abandons the home what should wife do

[EMG]

You don't say if this is a Christian couple or not, but as a Christian I will say that Biblically every reasonable attempt should be made to keep the marriage together. There is certainly a Biblical "exception clause" for the case of infidelity, but even then divorce is permitted, not required. And while there has been some speculation on the part of respondents, I don't see a clear statement by the original poster that infidelity actually occurred.

Here I most agree with CountrySquire's advice, "If I were the wife I'd tell hubby to attend marriage counseling with me. If he refuses, then let him know to expect the papers." Whether the immediate ultimatum is for counseling or something else on the path towards resolution, I would say that, Christian or not, she will feel better and more comfortable with herself in the long run if she has made every reasonable effort to save the marriage before going through with ending it.

On the other hand if this is indeed a case of "unrepentent infidelity" and it's clear hubby has no intention of changing, then she should certainly not be encouraged to go on in false hope.

[CountrySquire]

Yep, that's how I smoked my X wife out of hiding. She kept claiming she did not want the divorce, but curiously did not want to attend counseling with me or meet to discuss resolving our many issues. She just wanted to stay legally seperated with me on the hook for her financials.

[exdetroiter]

The extremely sad part about this, is her children have seen his new life [[unintentionally on anyone's behalf). He said they have tried counseling many times, but she just want correct the problem he has with her. Maybe, I'm to caught up in the reality of what I see, rather than the hope that she must be holding on to think he'll return. It seems to me once a person takes the big step to find a place, sign a contract [[getting lock in for a specific amount of time), setting up shop, turning their back on their commitment to you and God, most definitely starting new relationships, ITS OVER!

Am I seeing this in a pessimistic view or realistic view?