My wife and I have just separated after I had an affair of

Thank you for confirming. As the home is owned jointly and was the former matrimonial home you have both a legal interest and a right to occupy the property unless there are police conditions or a court order in place excluding you from the property - therefore legally you are allowed to return. It is likely the police advised you not to return so that there is no incident but this does not stop you returning.Given the marriage is 2 years, if you had cohabited prior to this a court will consider the period of cohabitation as part of the length of marriage and puts further weight to your position regarding making a claim towards the property.The court looks at the criteria below when deciding how to divide assets and make financial orders, with a starting point of a 50-50 split of all matrimonial assets and ensuring that both your needs are met in relation to both assets and income. Given that the marriage may be considered short there could be argument that any assets obtained prior to the marriage should be "ring-fenced" but a court will still take those assets into account. The criteria considered is:1. The income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources which each of the parties to the marriage has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future, including in the case of earning capacity any increase in that capacity which it would in the opinion of the court be reasonable to expect a party to the marriage to take steps to acquire;2. The financial needs, obligations and responsibilities which each of the parties to the marriage has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;3. The standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage;4. The age of each party to the marriage and the duration of the marriage;5. Any physical or mental disability of either of the parties to the marriage;6. The contributions which each of the parties has made or is likely in the foreseeable future to make to the welfare of the family, including any contribution by looking after the home or caring for the family;7. The conduct of each of the parties, if that conduct is such that it would in the opinion of the court be inequitable to disregard it;8. In the case of proceedings for divorce or nullity of marriage, the value to each of the parties to the marriage of any benefit which, by reason of the dissolution or annulment of the marriage, that party will lose the chance of acquiring.If you have any further questions regarding this please let me know. In the meantime if you found this information helpful please provide a positive rating. I will not be credited for answering your question without a positive rating. Thank you