UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi,

  Bit of a strange one this is:-

  My ex-wife is currently in my property and won't move out so my solicitor has advised me to evict her using property law.

  As she has no permission to be there and has no tenancy agreement what can I do?  We are Decree Absolute and she refused mediation to sort out finances / debts / property issues and has effectively ignored everything .

  Home is solely in my name, she doesn't pay rent and has only paid out once to house £2k in 14 years.

  I've served a notice to quit already for the 3rd Jan but I'm unsure what I have to do next, can I just change the locks or do I have to get a possession order?

  I should add she is getting married in January so I was hoping she would move in with her new partner but unlikely after residing there for so long,

  thanks in advance

Be wary of advice from a forum (especially my own)
Always do your own research

Hi
Am curious as to why you have come to a forum if you solicitor is already advising you?

If you own the family home in your name alone, your ex-wife does not have an automatic legal right to remain there.
You can: evict her without getting a court order; rent out or sell the home without her agreement; take out a loan against the property without her consent.

She has no right to remain under the Family Law Act 1996 as under s30 (8 )(a) she is only allowed to remain so long as the marriage subsists but you are no longer married.

If you lived with your ex-wife but only your name is on the register of title/title deeds, it's possible for you to change the locks.
But you must give your ex-wife reasonable notice to leave and that notice period has run out.
So what is reasonable notice?  This depends on the circumstances.....if there has been violence or unreasonable behaviour, then very short or immediate notice may be considered reasonable.

If you use, or threaten to use, physical force to get your ex-wife to leave, you are likely to be committing a criminal offence.

There are legal steps your ex-wife may be able to take to allow her to stay in the home or to return there.
So to check, I assume she has not paid towards the mortgage or made any substantial contribution to the repairs (in either case if she has she might have a equitable interest in the property and be cause for her to have right to remain - this might apply even if she has not registered per the Land Registry Act 2000 s32 as it could be an Overriding Interest).  If she has contributed then I'm afraid solicitor time for you and big legal shenanigans are on the horizon.

Please note your obligations under the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 in respect of her personal property in the premises.

Clearly before taking such a draconian step as changing the locks you might want to refer to your solicitor friend.

Best of luck