house not theirs but locks changed

[s4simo]

Hi, I hope someone can help us. My brother has just split from his girlfriend of 12 years. They have a four year old son.

He pays ALL bills for the house (which is solely in his name) and cars as well as £300 a month into a joint account which his partner has full access to. The solicitor advised him on Friday when she refused to let him in that he was entitled to enter the house and indeed stay there. However the locks have now been changed.

When he went round today to get some paper work he needed he was refused entry and she called the police. The police did enter and get some paperwork although their are items missing from this. The CSA have also rung him today and his partner has informed them there is no such thing as a joint account. In fairness to the CSA when he explained that he will pay whatever the law states they were very good.

His partner states that she can stay in the house until their son is 16 / 18 years old and my brother will have to continue to pay all the utility bills, mortgage and child support.

Her parents live 4 miles away and say she cant move in with them, although they are both at his house also.

I appreciate that under the children's act there is a legal obligation to provide for the child involved. Is there however a 'reasonable' time-frame in which she must leave the property or does she have to prove she is actively looking for someone else to live i.e. local authority housing.

Does he legally have a right to enter his own house (the police are now saying 'no' with a solicitors letter)

Thank you so much for reading and any help / advise will be very gratefully received.

[leclerc]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

Is the house paid for by mortgage?

Does he have his own bank account?

[s4simo]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

Yes the house is paid for by mortgage which he pays for and his in his name only

He has his own main bank account and this joint one which he puts £300 a month into plus extras as and when it needs topping up. He hasn't cancelled this account in case his son needs anything

[leclerc]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

Are the household bills in his name or her name or joint names?

[WendyB]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

I think the best thing he can do is to contact a solicitor and get proper legal advice, re the house, maintenance, access to his son etc. I don't think she would be allowed to keep him out of his own house or change the locks unless she has an injunction against him. Obviously all this would depend on the circumstances etc of the break up, which seemingly wasn't amicable?

[s4simo]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

The utilities bill addressee is joint as he works away mon-fri but he pays EVERYTHING (which his bank statement will testify). They were put in joint names in-case she ever had to sort anything out whilst he was away.
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Hi Wendy B,
According to the police he cant get in his own house if she refuses to let him in, but can break in if shes not there! The break up only happened last week but he works away so yesterday was the first time he went back home to find she wouldn't let him in and then she changed the locks. So it has only just turned 'bitter'

[leclerc]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

He doesn't have to pay anything anymore since she has gone to the Child Support Agency, however, if he does have either a legal advice line on his home insurance cover or perhaps with his car insurance, I would suggest he does speak to a solicitor with regards to the whole situation, ie
1) Can she legally change the locks to the house when the house is in his name?
2) Can she simply live in a house that he pays for until the child is 16/18 years old?
3) What if you wanted to sell the house, where do you stand?

He needs professional advice and I think he needs to look at getting the bills changed to her name alone should she specifically be going through the CSA. She should not be getting a free house to live in on his money.
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I think the best thing he can do is to contact a solicitor and get proper legal advice, re the house, maintenance, access to his son etc. I don't think she would be allowed to keep him out of his own house or change the locks unless she has an injunction against him. Obviously all this would depend on the circumstances etc of the break up, which seemingly wasn't amicable?

apologies, I kinda missed this post prior to posting but yes, completely agree with you.

[s4simo]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

Hi Leclerc, Many thanks for your post. So are you saying that now she has been to the CSA he no longer has to pay the utilities and that her position that he will have the continue paying for everything (mortgage, utility bills, phones and council tax) whilst their son is <16 / 18 years old is not actually the case - I hope not it sounded a little harsh to say the least!!

[leclerc]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

Hi Leclerc, Many thanks for your post. So are you saying that now she has been to the CSA he no longer has to pay the utilities and that her position that he will have the continue paying for everything (mortgage, utility bills, phones and council tax) whilst their son is <16 / 18 years old is not actually the case - I hope not it sounded a little harsh to say the least!!

I think he needs professional advice on this matter since (a) he owns the house but she has changed the locks.
(b) She can't just have her cake and eat it since he does not enjoy the services that he is paying for and child support agency payments would include payments to cover this.

[Sapphire]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

If the cars are in his name only and she is driving them around, he can refuse her permission to use them, then if she carries on, I'd be inclined to report her to the police and have her charged with taking and driving away.

[s4simo]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

Leclerc,Sorry to ask another question / clarify. Are the CSA payments (15% of his income) to cover utility bills, phone, internet, council only.
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Hi Sapphire, He pays for the car insurance and tax discs but her car was paid for by her dad and is in her name. The car insurance policy was a joint multi car policy which my brother has just cancelled and taken out a sole policy for his car only (he has texted her to let her know that she no longer has car insurance so she wont be driving illegally)

I guess the 'burning question' for us is her entitlement to stay in the house and have all her bills paid for by my brother. If their son is only 4 she thinks she can stay there until he is 16/18 years old!

[Caspar]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

You definitely need proper legal advice on this. My brother in law has just ended a similar case - the only difference was that it was a joint mortgage, but that means very little when they've been together so long and have a child.

He had to keep paying while all 3 children grew up and turned 18, one he had to keep paying till he was 19 as he was still in full time education. For all this time he's been on the breadline paying out vast amounts of his salary and left with virtually nothing for himself.

It honestly needs a good solicitor who knows exactly what they're doing.

[Sapphire]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

Take a look on here Splitting Up (Unmarried Couples) - Your Money Guide - Fool.co.uk it goes more in depth for you, but as the others have said your brother really does need to go to a solicitor quickly and get this sorted out.

[s4simo]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

Hi Casper, In your case was she allowed to stay in the house for that length of time and did he have to continue to pay all the mortgage, utilities and council tax as well as CSA payments?

[shell]

Re: house not theirs but locks changed

Hi Leclerc, Many thanks for your post. So are you saying that now she has been to the CSA he no longer has to pay the utilities and that her position that he will have the continue paying for everything (mortgage, utility bills, phones and council tax) whilst their son is <16 / 18 years old is not actually the case - I hope not it sounded a little harsh to say the least!!

He needs to contact the utility,phone and council tax people and inform them that he is no longer living at this address (he can change it back when he gets the house back), then he needs to stop paying the bills for these services. If she has contacted the CSA I would imagine she is getting benifits, so that will cover the council tax, the rest she has to cover, he will be paying maintanence.

As for the cars, he needs to get the log books, even if he has to take the police with him to the house (and if he is going to the house, it is better if he requests a police presence in case she accusses him of anything), once he has the log books he has to cancel her name on any insurance he has. But he has to get the log books, if she sends them away to get her name put on them as the registared keeper, he hasn't got a leg to stand on. So the sooner the better.