Lisa, how in the world do you fit a family of 7 into a one bedroom place? I understand as much as anyone what it is to live according to income but OMG you must be tripping on each other! Tension must be be high for everyone, there is absolutely no room to breath.
The kids (is that baby too?) are spending a lot of time at your moms, can you stay there too? you stayed with her a couple years ago, is it an option to go back? let go of the one bedroom/7 person place. Something more to think about is that IF your H would get a jumpstart and find a place big enough for all the kids he would have a good chance for at least temporary placement as you don't have adequate accommodations for them.
Are you working yet? you were doing real estate right? how's that going?
You got lots of good advice about legal protection, get busy and protect yourself and your kids. $30000 is a lot of money but it's miniscule compared to some MLCrs, and at least you're not in a community property state!
Do you have any type of family traditions with your kids? make some special memories with them and for them this Christmas.
