Looking for what people have used that worked in their case to inform my options of removing my STBX from our communal home. I can't afford an attorney, and am pretty adept with law in general, not so much family law but getting better, and fairly familiar with the process and intricacies. Married 22 years, together for 25, 7 kids together, 5 still minors- 1 lives with me full time, 4 "live" with her and go to school near her house, but still spend over 50% of their time with me and want to live with me. We live about 45 minutes apart. The 2 adult kids support the children primarily residing with me as well. Short story of the relationship- she didn't pull her weight, super selfish, prioritizes herself over the children, ran us into debt, hid finances, yada yada yada... I hold her accountable, she builds resentment, turns on me, doesn't change any behavior, everything crumbles as I prioritize myself and the children over her and move on with my life.
Dilapidated house was taxing me emotionally and financially. I couldn't keep up with the repairs. I work in a building department in a different jurisdiction, this is definitely a house I would condemn if it was being rented out. I decided to move the family closer to my work. She objected, quietly.

Crunch time came- I had a house selected and was doing paperwork, it was the last week of school, which was my plan; relocate immediately following the school year.
She went silver bullet- filed for a restraining order alleging all kinds of bogus stuff, with 0 proof, with her main and most egregious claim of rape and physical abuse from 8 years ago. They granted the temporary order booting me from the house and giving her full legal and physical custody. I got 1 day and 1 evening a week. She also was granted exclusive use of our 1 car that fit all 5 kids. I moved to the new house alone and fought the restraining order with everything I had. $18k in attorney fees. Hundreds of pages of pro se filings with circumstantial evidence that the abuse claims were bogus.

We reconciled in exchange for the RO being dropped the day of the trial. I was pretty sure I was gonna win, but ran out of $ for an attorney, she still had one, and the risk was too great. Dodging the silver bullet was a big win.

Through 5 months of "reconciliation" we lived separately and went to marriage counseling. She lived at my house with the children on the weekends. She made ridiculous demands and marriage counseling became an exercise in the therapist and myself walking her back from faaaar left field to reasonable compromise. The final straw was that I couldn't live with someone who was going to falsely claim I was an abuser and rapist- she needed to rescind those accusations. She refused.
I had been going to our communally owned house to retrieve personal items, the children's stuff, do maintenance, etc. from time to time. She maintained a surveillance system there and refused to give me access to it so we would both have security. After things fell apart, she claimed she was still willing to work on it, while also maintaining I did indeed beat and rape her. I began unplugging the cameras when I went there.
She calls one night to accuse me of stealing food and toiletries and says she called law enforcement and made a complaint. She told me to get a civil standby if I come back. There are no court orders in place.
I filed for divorce the next day. So. Done.

It's been 16 months since I decided that moving from that house was in the best interests of the family and children. It's been 10 months since I was evicted by the temporary restraining order. The condition of the house has continued to deteriorate with little to no maintenance. She's also enjoying a less than $1,000 housing payment in a market that the house, in rentable condition, or a similar house would easily cost $2,500 a month- this is being done through the deprivation of my access to communal property; I'm paying to subsidize her housing. She is claiming the date of separation was the filing date of the restraining order, 10 months ago, presumably because she's going to go for back child and spousal support, not realizing I may also be entitled to Watts charges. I think I have sufficient evidence to show the date of separation was the more recent filing date, which would also put the $18k debt in attorney fees for the restraining order half on her (her family paid for her attorney so no new debt on her end).

I recently filed a lengthy complaint, with pictures, with the local animal control, child welfare services, and code enforcement on the conditions of the house. Investigation is pending. 50/50 chance it gets condemned. I would condemn it where I work in a city, but in the rural area it's in, their standards are much lower and the department is known to be lazy and selective in enforcement. Same with Child Welfare... I've called on her numerous times for issues like smoking marijuana in the car with the children while driving them without car seats, and child welfare just gave her brochures on drug addiction and proper child seat usage. I also petitioned the court for an emergency order to move the kids out of the house. It was denied and set for hearing in 2 weeks. Over the last week, she went through and fixed some of the issues, but some are going to be too costly to fix (holes in the floors and roof), or she glossed over the issue temporarily (mold in the structure was bleached on the surface, but will come back). During the restraining order, she also let the insurance lapse so it's uninsured.

I need to get our kids out of this house, and away from this lady until the court has time to review the mountains of evidence I have to show a pattern of behavior in which she subjects the children to harmful situations for personal gain. Our kids are pawns in her game and the court will 100% see it in due time.

What worked for any of you to either get the kids out of hazardous housing, or get the ex out of the housing? Any help is appreciated.