now that the papers have been served we are legally separated. Can I get a restraining order and have him removed?

If the judges in your area side with you a restraining order is needed. You can get a restraining order at anytime, in my rural town the judge is the deciding factor whether one is needed or not, so for my ex husband I could never get one. The divorce papers however spelled out when he had to vacate the home.

yes, the papers will state the time period for him to vacate.

how did that go? Did he leave willingly at the appointed time?

He did not leave willingly, he waited until the last possible minute, he wasn’t an alcoholic but an opioid addict that ended up with an heroin addiction that ultimately claimed his life. It was a horrible end of marriage and now I ended up dating an alcoholic whom lives with me for the past 3 years and I’m telling him he needs to leave and he’s dragging his feet.
Good luck, stay strong and keep safe

how did you get him ultimately out?

Everyday I asked when he was leaving and reminded him of the time stated in the divorce papers. If you have a lawyer that helped with the papers you can ask them how to go about having him removed. For me it was a matter of him finding a place to go, which he finally found thankfully. With my current ABF it’s the same, he says he has nowhere to go, but I’m going to start that conversation daily with him about “when are you leaving?” “You need to get out”. But for me I think the rate it’s going I will have to have him legally evicted. Yay me, I can pick them for sure!!!!

I feel ya sista. My man picker is broken.