Does moving out of a shared home to escape violence hurt a parent's later claim to the matrimonial home?

No — leaving a shared home to escape violence does not give up a spouse's rights connected to the matrimonial home under the Family Law Act. Both spouses have an equal right to possess the matrimonial home regardless of whose name is on title, and that right isn't automatically forfeited just because one spouse moved out, including where the move was to protect their own or a child's safety. Equalization rights connected to the home's value are similarly unaffected by who is physically living there at any given time.

In practice, a spouse who leaves because of safety concerns can still later seek an order for exclusive possession of the home, ask to have the other spouse excluded, or pursue their full entitlement to equalization, and courts are generally sensitive to the reality that leaving to protect yourself or a child shouldn't be held against you. That said, documenting why the move happened — through police reports, a restraining order, or other evidence of the safety concern — helps make the situation clear if it's ever questioned later.