Comments on: What’s mine is yours, unfortunately.

By: Kay

Kay — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:18:13 +0000

My mother and father seperated 27 years ago and my mother bought my father’s share of their flat, her name was transferred on to the property and she became the sole owner.

My father is now homeless and in hospital, he is due to be discharged and the local authority have said that he will not be deemed homeless as he has a right to reside in my mother’s home (the matrimonial home).

My parents never got divorced but have had seperate finances since seperating.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

By: contact

contact — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:11:37 +0000

Dawn,
Your situation is extremely difficult and you have my sympathies. I don’t know if you are considering divorce, but a re-assignment of the tenancy as a part of the divorce proceedings would not necessarily result in the party who didn’t get the tenancy being considered intentionally homeless. If the residence of your son was part of the divorce order terms, then there shouldn’t be any question of priority need either. I suggest you talk to a family solicitor. Your husband will also need a family solicitor, but one that does housing or can refer him to a housing advisor on the homelessness issue.

Sophie,
I strongly suggest you find a housing or family solicitor. Try the ‘Find a Legal Aid Legal Advisor’ link at the top right of this page. In your situation, you may have a shot at getting the tenancy transferred to your sole name under the Family Act or Childrens Act. Without knowing the situation in detail, I obviously can’t comment on your chances, so get full independent advice.

Nearly Legal

By: Sophie

Sophie — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:01:50 +0000

I am a joint tenant with an ex unmarried partner who has now ( I believe) purchased property with his mother, what is my legal position , he has been out of the house for nearly 5 years and my youngest son is 14.
My loal council has told me either I need to get a letter from him terminating his rights to the tenancy or I need to take him to court but having read the above I’m not sure a court would be willing to grant me the sole tenancy.
If anyone has advice I would be really grateful.

By: Dawn Marsh

Dawn Marsh — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:49:33 +0000

I now fall into the tricky situation of married joint tenant where the marriage has broken down. My local authority have already told me that I can only end the joint tenancy with my husbands consent, but should he consent he will then be classed intentionally homeless. Due to high debts we can not pull the money together to rehouse him in the private sector. Added to this my son wishes to stay with his father (leaving me with our 2 other children) meaning he now requires a 2 bed property which he can ill-afford on top of the mounting debt. Seeking resolution to the debt problem will invariably affect his credit rating thus making it difficult to secure private sector housing. So we are now having to share the house we currently live in. Tensions in the house are extremely high, we argue most of the time, the kids are now arguing because we are arguing and the situation is becoming exteremly intolerable with no solution in sight. What started as an amicable agreement to seperate which is the more beneficial for our children, is now becoming a war, by the time we find a solution the family unit will have completely broken down to the detriment of the children. People in social housing are there for a reason, surely there should be more help when a relationship breaks down to ensure the emotional and menal wellbeing of the children remains the priority. Whilst we try to maintain some stability and harmony the desperate situation will inverably affect both of us.

By: contact

contact — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:32:21 +0000

Oh dear, Swanny, not a happy situation.

The general rule is that a joint tenancy is not affected by a divorce unless the tenancy is specifically assigned. Unless that was done, it is likely that the ex-husband’s joint tenancy continued. To end a joint tenancy otherwise requires one of the tenants to give notice, which ends the tenancy for both, which I presume has not happened. The ex-husband will get the tenancy by survivorship. Unfortunately this counts as a succession. If the tenancy was an assured tenancy, this is the one succession allowed. If it is a secure tenancy (rare), it may be possible for the ex-husband to assign the tenancy to you.

You should get advice on the situation immediately. See the ‘Find an Adviser’ link above. I can’t advise you here and in any case, couldn’t without seeing the documents in any case.

By the way, if the Housing Association are right, you are a trespasser, not a tolerated trespasser. The money the Housing Association will seek is ‘use and occupation charges’. This is not the same as rent. If the HA maintain you are a trespasser, they will not agree to take rent from you (only tenants pay rent), but will demand the same amount in use and occupation charges. The Court might well award them those charges.

By: Up the Swanny

Up the Swanny — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 12:33:19 +0000

I have fallen foul to this area of law since my mother and former husband divorced in 2004. My mother notified the housing association on numerous occasions to inform them of the situation and they did nothing. Unfortunately in October 2007 my mother passed away and after rather distressing wrangling with the Housing Association was advised that my sister and I were on the tenancy and that succession could be made by one of us. My sister, living with her partner, advised the housing assocation that sh did not wish to succeed the tenancy meaning I could succeed the tenancy. The only problem is that the property is for people 55 years of age with a disability. I was therefore told I could succeed the tenancy but could not remain in the property. I was then given a fantastic christmas present of a letter stating my mother’s ex-husband was still on the tenancy and that he could succeed the tenancy and not myself, this is despite the fact that he is living elsewhere and has remarried. I have sort some advice and found it difficult to come to a conclusion as to what my rights are despite discovering that under the Family Law Act 1996 Ground 31 my mother’s ex-husband surrended his right to the tenancy upon the desolution of the marriage. However as neither ended the joint tenancy I am not entitled to the tenancy my mother held with the Housing Association. Can anyone shed light on this or point me in some sort of direction. As I have now been told I am a tolerated trespasser, will be served with a notice to quit and will be told to pay charges for damaged, which I have been advised I do not have to pay as this would amount to me paying rent where I have been told by the Housing Association I cannot.

By: lawyer-2-be

lawyer-2-be — Tue, 29 May 2007 21:45:40 +0000

Sadly, I doubt that any reform of the law on co-habitees property rights is likely to extend to conferring upon the courts the power to deal with the sort of situation you refer to here. It is doubtful whether there will ever be a very satisfactory solution to dealing with the issue in the narrower context of the apportionment / distribution of property (ownership) rights upon the dissolution of a relationship (non-marital). As much is clear from previous failed attempts to construct / define an appropriate way of resolving the problems associated with this issue (and it’s not clear where, if anywhere, the current Law Commission consultation will take us). The whole thing is a complete mess and until there is some progress, separating couples are to some extent at the mercy of ‘palm tree justice’. It seems that issues of property law and family law do not necessarily conflate very satisfactorily. L2B