Well the first step is to consult a solicitor who specialises in divorce. She may be able to get a free consultation just to discuss her situation generally. Does she know where here husband is, if not that could present a problem as he will have to be located. Another thing is if he wants to co-operate with her. If he wants to agree to give her his share of the house then all well and good, however she does have to think about her future and how she is going to support herself and any children she has that are under 18. All in all I think she would have a good chance of keeping the house, however there are lots of imponderables like how much equity is there, has he got a job, has she got a job, pensions etc. and divorce can be very expensive if the parties do not agree. So the best thing would be to contact him and come to some mutual agreement and then to go from there, but some legal help is probably going to be needed.