“Can I force my husband or wife to move out?”

When a relationship is fractured, continuing to live together may seem impossible. However, one person sometimes resists moving out, leading to further tension in the family and an extremely difficult situation for the two people to resolve by themselves.  

There are all sorts of reasons why your spouse might want to stay in the family home. Perhaps they don’t have anywhere to go or can’t afford to buy or rent somewhere new - a situation made more common by the current financial climate. Perhaps they worry that leaving the family home would mean they’d be giving up certain rights relating to the property or your children. Or maybe they simply feel they shouldn’t be the one to go (a ‘why me?’ scenario).  

As family lawyers, we are often in the background advising one of the parties on their legal rights and those of their spouse. Your spouse is likely to have the right to remain in the property, either because they are the sole owner, owns it jointly with you, or because of ‘matrimonial home rights’ that apply to a spouse whose partner owns the property outright (so even if you own the house by yourself, they could still be entitled to live in it after you’ve separated). These legal rights can make it extremely difficult to encourage a spouse who doesn’t want to leave to do so.

It's possible to apply to the court for an ‘occupation order’. This is a formal legal process during which the court will look at your reasons for making the request. The court will consider various things, including the effect that making, or not making, the order could have the health, safety and wellbeing of those involved (including children). Occupation orders are often put in place where there has been domestic abuse. They are considered serious measures, applied in situations where harm is a factor, so they won’t always be appropriate.

The legal position is just one part of the equation; there are also practical realities to consider. Assuming yours isn’t an abusive relationship, there can be some benefits to continuing to live with your spouse in the short-term while the transition to separation is navigated. If you have children, their lives could continue without too much disruption, for example. However, the state of your relationship with your spouse – and its effect on you both and on your children – is all-important. Continuing to live together while not ‘together’ could be detrimental, particularly if it generates further tension and conflict in the home.

For advice about your situation, contact our family law team today on 01264 353411 or email on family@bsandi.co.uk. We’ll help you work through the issues with confidence.