Devon and Cornwall’s leading family solicitors discuss protecting your property interests when you are not the legal owner using home rights and unilateral notices.
There are a variety of issues to be dealt with following the breakdown of a relationship. For most, in the first instance, you will want to protect your interest in the family home, but what happens if it is only your spouse who is the registered legal owner?
In the majority of cases the family home is the single most important asset available to a couple. If your spouse owns it in their sole name, you will want to do everything possible to protect against their selling, transferring, or otherwise raising borrowings against the property without you knowing about it.
In general, there are two methods to protect a non-owing spouse’s property interests: home rights, and unilateral notices.
Both of these forms of notice are automatically registered against a property’s title when an application is made to HM Land Registry. In the first instance you need not prove the validity of your entitlement, however it is important to understand that your spouse (the owner) is just as entitled to make an application for the notice to be removed at any time.
A home rights notice provides protection over the family home for a non-owning spouse, whilst the unilateral notice may be registered over other properties.
The requirements of a unilateral notice are more specific and, unlike a home rights notice, cannot be registered until a land action is commenced, for example, by commencing financial remedy proceedings a Court.
The decision to make a financial application is not one that should be taken lightly, and you should speak with a solicitor before considering this step.
If you are a non-owning spouse, then it is important that you seek legal advice as soon as possible.
Alara Guven is a paralegal in our family team based in Exeter. Our experienced solicitors are well practiced in helping to protect our client’s property interests and are available to advise you on most appropriate way forward in your specific case. To get in contact with Alara or our team please call 01392 210700 or email family.exeter@stephens-scown.co.uk.