Divorcing wife unable to force sale of matrimonial home

A wife has been refused an interim order for the sale of the matrimonial home as part of her divorce proceedings.

Shannon Bateson, Solicitor in our family law team reports on this recent case.

The Family Court said it didn’t have the power to make such an order.

The wife had applied under the Married Women’s Property Act 1882 for an interim order for the sale of, and vacant possession of, the home in which both she and her husband had a legal and beneficial interest.

The issue was whether the court’s jurisdiction to order vacant possession was limited by the Family Law Act 1996.

The recorder hearing the case held that the court’s powers were limited by the 1996 Act and it had no jurisdiction to order vacant possession.

If, as in this case, the husband had a legal or beneficial interest in the property, the Act empowered the court to suspend or restrict, but not to extinguish, his right to occupy it.

If, on the other hand, his right to occupy derived solely from “home rights” arising from the marriage, the court would have the power to restrict or terminate it.

The wife was ordered to pay the husband’s costs of the application.

For more information about the issues raised in this article or any aspect of family law please contact Shannon on 01228 516666 or click here to send her an email.