If you’re splitting up from your partner, but aren’t married or in a civil partnership, there might be ways to protect your rights to the home. What you can do depends on who owns the property.
How your home might be owned
You own your home – either all or part of it – if your name is on a legal document called the title deeds.
It might be owned:
- by one of you – which means it’s in one of your names
- jointly, by both of you – there are different forms of joint ownership
- by someone else – for example, a family member.
How you own your home might affect what you do in the early days.
Property owned by one of you
If your ex-partner owns the family home in their name alone, you don’t have an automatic legal right to stay there.
They can:
- evict you (by giving reasonable notice) without getting a court order
- rent out or sell the home without your agreement
- take out a loan against the property without your consent.
If you think you have a financial share in the property (for example because you paid towards the mortgage or major improvements), it’s worth acting quickly by getting legal advice. You may be able to show you have an interest which can affect what happens next.
It can be a tense and emotional time, but harassment or and threatening violence are never OK. If you’re worried about your safety or feel your ex-partner is trying to force you to leave the family home, you can find help and resources in Citizens Advice’s guide, If your ex-partner is trying to make you leaveOpens in a new window
Establishing your interest in the property
If you’ve paid towards the mortgage, or towards improvements or an extension, you might be able to establish an interest in your home.
This means that the court recognises that you have the right to:
- continue living in the property
- a share in its value when it’s sold.
Your rights to the property – and what you have to do to register them – depend on where you live in the UK.
In England and Wales
Paying towards the mortgage doesn't automatically give you a legal right to a share of your ex-partner's property. But you don't need to have a formal legal agreement with your ex-partner to claim a share (known as a beneficial interest) either.
Whether or not you've made any financial contributions, you may be able to apply for an 'occupation order'. This is a short-term court order that decides who can live in the home.
This is a complex area of law. Getting advice from a solicitor is the best first step, but you can apply for an occupation order yourself if you need to.
In Northern Ireland
You might be able to get an ‘occupation order’, but you must use a solicitor. You might also be able to register a caution (or ‘Lis pendens’) with the relevant Land and Property Registry if you can show you have a beneficial interest in the property. If granted, this means the property can’t be sold without you being told. However, your ex-partner can challenge this decision.
In Scotland
If you want to continue living in the family home you might be able to apply to the court to get ‘occupancy rights’. It’s not an automatic process. Instead, the court will take into account a range of factors. These include
- whether you have children
- if you have anywhere else to live
- how long you’ve lived there.
An occupation order only lasts up to six months, so if you can find somewhere else to live, you need to decide if it’s worth applying for one. Also, your partner can object to you being given occupancy rights.
Getting help and advice
This is a complex area and it’s a good idea to get advice from a solicitor who specialises in the breakdown of cohabiting relationships.
You can also talk to an adviser from a housing rights charity:
- in England or Wales, contact ShelterOpens in a new window
- in Northern Ireland, contact Housing Rights
- in Scotland, contact Shelter Scotland
Property owned by both of you
Your solicitor should have advised you about the best way to own your home jointly when you bought it.
The two options for this are as:
- Joint tenants – This is where you both own the whole property together, rather than having separate shares. When one of you dies, the other automatically inherits the whole property through the right of survivorship – regardless of what’s said in your wills (if you have them). In Scotland, this is called “joint owners with a survivorship” – you might see it in the title deeds with wording like “equally between you and to the survivor”.
- Tenants in common – This is where you each own a specific share in the property. You can split ownership equally between you, or you can decide that one of you will own more than the other. When you die, your share passes to whoever you leave it to in your will – it does not automatically go to the other owner. It’s called “joint owners in pro-indiviso” in Scotland.
Finding out how your property is jointly owned
If you don’t know how you own your home, it’s worth trying to find out.
Where you do this depends on where in the UK you live.
- In England and Wales: If your home is registered with the Land Registry you can download the property’s title register online, which costs £7. If it’s owned as ‘tenants in common’, it will have the words ‘Form A restriction’ next to the ownership information.
- In Northern Ireland: You can find out how your home is owned by searching one of the three Land and Property Registries. Find out how to search these on the NI Direct website
- In Scotland: You can find out how your home is owned by doing a property search on the Register of ScotlandOpens in a new window website. There is a fee for this, which is £3, plus VAT on the land register or on the sasine register £30, plus VAT.
Should you change the ownership?
Do you own the property as joint tenants (or ‘joint owners with a survivorship destination’ in Scotland)? If so, you might want to change ownership to tenants in common (or ‘joint owners’ in Scotland).
If you did die before you’d agreed what to do with the family home, your share in the property would pass to your ex-partner.
If you changed the ownership, it would mean you wouldn’t automatically inherit your partner’s share if they died before you finalised the break-up.
The process of changing ownership varies depending on where you live in the UK.
Changing the ownership in England or Wales
This is called ‘severing the joint tenancy’ and is quite straightforward.
First, you need to write to your partner and tell them that you want to sever the joint tenancy. They don’t have to agree to you doing this.
If the property is registered with the Land Registry, you can fill in a form called SEV, which you can download from the Land Registry websiteOpens in a new window
Changing the ownership in Northern Ireland
You’ll need a solicitor if you want to change ownership from joint tenants to tenants in common.
The process will depend on whether your property is registered with the Land Registry (around 50% of land in Northern Ireland isn’t registered) or Registry of Deeds.
You’ll usually have to get your ex-partner to agree to you changing ownership from joint tenants to tenants in common.
You’ll have to ask a solicitor to draft the new terms and have this registered on the title of the property.
You need to pay a fee to the Land Registry or Registry of Deeds to change the ownership. Your solicitor will also usually charge a fee.
Changing the ownership in Scotland
Changing ownership from joint owners with a survivorship destination to joint owners is complicated – you will both need to agree to make this change.
It’s not something you should try and do without the advice of a family law solicitor.
Contacting your mortgage lender
If your name is on the mortgage, you’re responsible for keeping up repayments and are liable for the whole debt – even if it’s a joint mortgage with others.
Contact your mortgage lender if:
- you think you might have problems paying the mortgage, or
- if you’re worried that your ex-partner might not make payments they’ve agreed to.
Your lender might be able to send you copies of statements.
If it’s a joint mortgage, it’s worth also seeing if you can stop your ex-partner from applying to increase the mortgage.
You might qualify for help with mortgage payments if you’re on certain benefits.
