Family home on divorce

For many divorcing couples, their key concern upon separation is what will happen to the family home, particularly when they have children.

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When you're considering or starting the process of divorcing, one of the first things you'll need to sort out will be your immediate and longer-term living arrangements. You and your partner are both going to need somewhere to live and, if you have children, somewhere they can be comfortable too.

Living arrangements

When you're considering or starting the process of divorcing, one of the first things you'll need to sort out will be your immediate and longer-term living arrangements. You and your partner are both going to need somewhere to live and, if you have children, somewhere they can be comfortable too.

Before a settlement has been reached, it's common for both parties to continue living together in the same house upon separation. Some parties continue to do so until a settlement is reached; if this can be managed without it being damaging to you or the children then it might make financial sense. For some, it isn't possible or healthy for parties to remain in the same house. If this is the case, you may have questions about what impact moving out may have on the settlement and how bills should be dealt with.

If you are concerned about your or your child’s safety in the family home once you have issued divorce proceedings, then there are orders that the court can make to limit who can be in the family home. There's very specific criteria you have to meet in order to make this application.

Treatment of the family home

The starting point is that the matrimonial home is a joint asset. In some circumstances, it may be necessary to protect your interest in the property. Where the property is in your partner’s sole name, you should consider placing a Matrimonial Home Rights Notice on the title of the property which publicly records your interest in the property. If your partner tries to sell your home before you have agreed to a final financial settlement, your interest is recorded at the Land Registry and the sale cannot proceed.

When reaching a financial settlement, the court has various powers in respect of property. It can order for the property to be transferred from one of you to the other or for the property to be sold entirely. If the property is sold, the court can determine how the proceeds will be split, including giving one party 100% of the profits. The court also has the power to place what is called a Mesher Order on the property which postpones the sale of the property until a later date, usually when the children are 18. As with everything, agreeing arrangements rather than fighting over them will keep financial and emotional costs down.

How we can help

There's a difference between a house and a home and we appreciate that the family home can be worth more than its monetary value.

We want to understand your personal situation and what the family home means to you. It's important for us to understand what you would like to happen to the family home so that we can factor this into not only the final settlement, but also the interim arrangements. We appreciate that when children are involved, the priority will be to minimise disruption to their daily lives.

Ready to talk to us?

Our team of specialist family lawyers are here to support you if you're facing issues related to divorce and the family home. Speak to our team today. 

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Family home on divorce FAQs

In any financial proceedings on divorce, the interests of any children are the first concern. If the children live with you, this could be a deciding factor between whether the home is sold or not, and if it is, how the equity is divided.

There are no hard and fast rules. If you were to keep the home, your partner may get more of the other assets to balance things out, but there are no hard and fast rules. What happens to the family home will depend on your circumstances and what other assets are available.

The simple answer is yes. It may be that you and your partner want to own the house together until a certain event in the future under a Mesher Order, or you have investment properties together that you want to maintain.

You can continue to own property together but there are issues that you should consider first. For example, the court has a duty to consider a clean break between you and your partner on divorce; owning property together means that you may be financially tied to one another for the foreseeable future. It may also have tax implications.

Yes. Ensuring that both you, your ex and any children have somewhere suitable to live is a main priority. Often it will be more appropriate to rent whilst negotiating the overall financial settlement but, if buying another property in the interim is affordable and won't make it more difficult to achieve a fair split in the longer term, then it should be considered.

It's important to note that any significant expenditure needs to be disclosed during financial negotiations or court proceedings, and in most cases the cost of a new home is likely to be at a level that means it should be discussed and agreed upon before it's done rather than risking it being challenged after. 

The equity in your property is its value minus any loans charged against it and less any costs of sale. The equity in your family home or any other properties you both own is an asset to be taken into account when reaching a financial settlement. This means that it will be subject to the normal legal principles that the court uses in determining the financial settlement.

In financial proceedings on divorce, whose name the property is in generally does not matter. The starting point is that it is a joint matrimonial asset. There are some circumstances where a party may argue that they should have a greater share of the matrimonial home’s equity but this is rare and such an argument would need strong justification.

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