On marriage breakdown dividing up your finances and property can be very complicated. Your circumstances will be unique and it is important to take independent legal advice.

The court has power to make a number of different orders: spousal maintenance, lump sums, property adjustment orders and pension sharing orders. The court does not usually make orders for child maintenance but if no agreement is possible between you the Child Support Agency/Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission will become involved.

If you are unmarried the court will apply property law to any property owned by you or to which you may have an interest. If you have children capital orders can be made under Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989.

Renting and Tenancies

• Married Couples

  It is possible for the court to make a property adjustment order in respect of a tenancy including a council house tenancy and a housing association tenancy. The court also has power under the Family Law Act 1996 to order the transfer of certain types of tenancies.

• Renting in Joint Names

  There can be a problem if the tenancy is a periodic tenancy in joint names (one that has no end date) as it can be terminated by either joint tenant giving notice to quit without the other agreeing. If you cannot agree about the tenancy, you may need to get an injunction from the court quickly to prevent your joint tenant giving notice, which would bring the tenancy to an end. Once the tenancy is at an end the court cannot order a transfer.

  As a joint tenant you are entitled to live at the property and you are jointly liable to pay the rent and ensure that you do not break the conditions of your tenancy. If you separate and leave the property without dealing with the tenancy you will remain liable for the rent.

• Renting in your Sole Name

  If the tenancy is in your sole name you are the legal tenant. If your spouse’s name is not on the tenancy agreement they may still have "home rights". These are if they are in occupation a right not to be evicted except with leave of the court and, if not in occupation, a right with leave of the court for them to enter and occupy the home. If you are unmarried and your partner’s name is not on the tenancy agreement they have no legal rights and you can ask them to leave.

• Renting in your partner’s Sole Name

  If you are not the tenant you can be asked to leave. Your only protection is to apply to the court for an order allowing you "occupation" of the property and a transfer of the tenancy.

Unmarried couples

Under the Family Law Act 1996 you can bring an application for the transfer of a tenancy from joint names into your own or from the person who is the tenant to you.

The property is in my partner’s sole name do I have any rights?

If your name is not on the legal title to the property it will be necessary for you to establish that you have a beneficial interest in the property. To do this it is necessary for you to either show that you have made a payment towards the purchase of the property (towards the deposit or the mortgage repayments) and that you would not have done this had you understood that you had no rights to the property.

Or you had an agreement or understanding with your partner that the property was to be shared and you relied on that agreement to your detriment. If you cannot reach an agreement on how much you should receive you may need to make an application to the County Court under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996.

Joint tenants or tenants in common?

This will have been decided when you bought the property together. If you are joint tenants the essence of a joint tenancy is that each joint tenant is wholly entitled to the whole of the interest in both the legal estate and equitable interest in land.

On death the other co-owner automatically inherits the property. Any reference to ownership in specific shares is normally sufficient to establish that you hold the property as tenants in common. If the property is held as tenants in common you can leave your proportion of the property by will to whosoever you choose. A joint tenancy is fairly easily convertible by severance into a tenancy in common in equal shares.

Why is this important?

If you are a joint tenant or tenant in common in equal shares you own the property equally. In the absence of a written agreement as to how the equity is to be divided the onus is on the party contending that the beneficial interest should be different to demonstrate this on the facts. Since 1st April 1998 the transfer document should record the beneficial interests so this is usually conclusive.

House Price Calculator:

 There are many different sites which you can use to get a ball park figure on the current valuation of your home. The Nationwide House Price Calculator was chosen purely for its simplicity.