Staying in your partner's property during a divorce or separation

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1. Overview

You can register your ‘home rights’ with HM Land Registry - this can help stop your partner from selling your home.

Your rights are different if you own the property jointly with your spouse or civil partner.

You cannot apply for home rights if your spouse or civil partner owns the property with someone else - unless your spouse or civil partner would get all the money if the property was sold (also known as being the ‘sole beneficial owner’).

This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).

If you’re not married or in a civil partnership, Citizens Advice have guidance on what happens when you separate.

Before you apply for home rights

You’ll need to know if the property is registered in your partner’s name, and its title number if it is.

You can search the register to find this information.

How to apply

You must complete a different application process for home rights depending on whether:

How long you can stay in the property

You can usually only live in the property until the divorce, annulment or dissolution has been finalised and a court settlement agreed.

You may be able to continue living in the property for longer, for example during an ongoing dispute about who owns what, if a court has made a ‘continuation order’ allowing you to do this.

What else you can do

You may be able to take legal action against your partner if they try to:

  • make you move out
  • stop you moving back into a home you’re not currently living in, for example if you moved out temporarily

A solicitor can advise you about this.

2. Apply if the property is registered

Download and fill in the application for registration of a notice for home rights.

Send it to HM Land Registry’s Citizen Centre. There’s no fee.

HM Land Registry
Citizen Centre
PO Box 74
Gloucester
GL14 9BB

You’ll get a letter from HM Land Registry telling you when they’ve registered your rights. Your spouse or civil partner will also get a letter telling them you’ve done this.

If you want to move to a different property

You can only protect your right to live in one property at a time.

You can ask HM Land Registry to transfer your home rights to another property owned by your spouse or civil partner if you’ve already got home rights for one property.

Download and fill in the application for registration of a notice for home rights.

Send it to HM Land Registry’s Citizen Centre. There’s no fee.

HM Land Registry
Citizen Centre
PO Box 74
Gloucester
GL14 9BB

Follow the application process for unregistered properties if the property you’re moving into is not registered - you can search the register to find out if it’s registered.

Staying in the property after divorce or separation

You may be able to continue living in your home for longer, for example if a court has made a ‘continuation order’ allowing you to do so during an ongoing dispute about who owns what.

How you apply depends on whether you’ve already registered your home rights.

Download and fill in either an:

Send the form, along with an official copy of the court’s continuation order, to HM Land Registry’s Citizen Centre. There’s no fee.

HM Land Registry
Citizen Centre
PO Box 74
Gloucester
GL14 9BB

You’ll get a letter from HM Land Registry telling you when they’ve registered your continued rights. Your ex-spouse or civil partner will also get a letter telling them you’ve done this.

3. Apply if the property is unregistered

Download and fill in the application for registration of a ‘Class F Land Charge’.

There’s a £1 fee - payment instructions are on the form.

Send the form and payment to the address on the form.

If you want to move to a different property

You can only protect your right to live in one property at a time.

You can ask HM Land Registry to transfer your home rights to another property owned by your spouse or civil partner if you’ve already registered your right to live in one property.

Download and fill in the application for registration of a ‘Class F Land Charge’.

There’s a £1 fee - payment instructions are on the form.

Send the form and payment to the address on the form.

Follow the application process for registered properties if the property you’re moving into is registered - you can search the register to find out if it’s registered.

Staying in the property after divorce or separation

You may be able to continue living in your home for longer, for example if a court has made a ‘continuation order’ allowing you to do so during an ongoing dispute about who owns what.

How you apply depends on whether you’ve already registered your home rights.

Download and fill in either an:

There’s a £1 fee - payment instructions are on the form.

Send the form and payment to the address on the form.

You’ll get a letter from HM Land Registry when they’ve registered your continued rights.

Your ex-spouse or civil partner will also get a letter telling them you’ve made the application.