Joint council tennancy to sole tennancy problems :(

[tennant1]

Recently came out of a 12 year abusive relationship with my now ex. Due to health conditions, he has been put into a dementia nursing home. He hasn't been diagnosed with dementia, but due to his behaviour while he was in hospital the previous 3 months, they were the only place that would take him in.Part of his behaviour was urinating on the hospital floor when he couldnt get his own way.

We are both joint tennant on a council property. While he was in hospital, he agreed to have his name taken off the tennancy. But, since he moved into the nursing home, doctors keep changing their minds as to whether he is sound of mind or not; it all depnds on what day they catch him on. This is now causing problems with getting his name taken off the tenancy because the council claim he is not sound of mind and therefore he cant agree to have his name taken off, so they refuse to do it.

He's been in the nursing home for at least 3 months now, and was in hopspital for the 3 months prior to that.

We have 4 children together aged between 4 and 12. He cant come back to the property even if he wanted to for theirs and my safety.

How do I go about getting his name taken off the joint tenancy?

[PallasAthena]

The council need to answer this question. They know he isn't living there and that he is unlikely ever to return, and in their opinion he lacks mental capacity to make his own request to be removed from the tenancy agreement. The council must have a process they can follow in this situation. Ask them what it is. You can be sure it isn't the first time it has arisen.

I am not surprised that his mental capacity changes from day to day, That is usual. Legal mental capacity isn't like an on-off switch. You don't go from having full capacity to having none at all. It depends on what the decision is.

Do you have a formal Power of Attorney [PoA] to manage his affairs when he loses mental capacity? If not does anyone have PoA? If there is no PoA in force is anyone applying to the Court of Protection to be appointed his Deputy? If no friend or family member is willing to do this Adult Social Services might apply to become a Public Authority Deputy. Presumably whoever has PoA or Deputyship would be able to act to have him removed from the tenancy.

You say "He cant come back to the property even if he wanted to for theirs and my safety", do you have a court order in place preventing him from returning?

Just for clarification, were you married to your ex when you started the joint tenancy and are you now divorced?

[tennant1]

The council need to answer this question. They know he isn't living there and that he is unlikely ever to return, and in their opinion he lacks mental capacity to make his own request to be removed from the tenancy agreement. The council must have a process they can follow in this situation. Ask them what it is. You can be sure it isn't the first time it has arisen.

I am not surprised that his mental capacity changes from day to day, That is usual. Legal mental capacity isn't like an on-off switch. You don't go from having full capacity to having none at all. It depends on what the decision is.

Do you have a formal Power of Attorney [PoA] to manage his affairs when he loses mental capacity? If not does anyone have PoA? If there is no PoA in force is anyone applying to the Court of Protection to be appointed his Deputy? If no friend or family member is willing to do this Adult Social Services might apply to become a Public Authority Deputy. Presumably whoever has PoA or Deputyship would be able to act to have him removed from the tenancy.

You say "He cant come back to the property even if he wanted to for theirs and my safety", do you have a court order in place preventing him from returning?

Just for clarification, were you married to your ex when you started the joint tenancy and are you now divorced?

We were never married.

There is no court order preventing him comming back. I will just refuse to let him in the property as doing so will put me and the children at risk. Social services were involved a couple years ago and they forced him to leave the property for a while and there was some sort of order to protect the children but that has ran out now.

As far i as i know, the nursing home together with his social worker were to sort out someone to deal with his finances and anything else to do with him. We are not together any longer and i've washed my hands of him. They havent informed me of anything regarding any POA and quite frankly i'm no longer interested in his affairs. I know it comes across as hasrsh from me, but Ive had enough of him and dont want to deal with his stuff.


It seems that the council have simply washed their hands of the problem rather then inform me of any process they have to follow and work with me to have his name removed. If there is a process, shouldnt they have informed me about it rather than telling me they cant take his name off?

[PallasAthena]

I understand that but knowing who is responsible for his affairs might help you resolve this as that person may be able to instruct the council to remove his name from the tenancy agreement. As you say it isn't your issue or your concern any longer and you won't get involved except to the extent necessary to get the tenancy transferred to your sole name.

Asking the council about this and how you get his name removed is the next step for you. It's mainly down to the council's policies and procedures, there isn't a legal magic button to make them do it.

The council is likely to know who is responsible for his affairs. However different departments of councils are often poor at communicating with each other. You are dealing with Housing but it's Adult Social Care who will be dealing with your ex's affairs. Get Housing to communicate better with Adult Social Care to find out who is dealing with his affairs if Housing need to know that.

[tennant1]

I understand that but knowing who is responsible for his affairs might help you resolve this as that person may be able to instruct the council to remove his name from the tenancy agreement.

Asking the council about this and how you get his name removed is the next step for you. It's mainly down to the council's policies and procedures. The council is likely to know who is responsible for his affairs. However different departments of councils are often poor at communicating with each other. You are dealing with Housing but it's Adult Social Care who will be dealing with your ex's affairs. Get Housing to communicate better with Adult Social Care.

Thanks . I will look into that.

[islandgirl]

Contact your local councillor too - they can often help. I know, I am one!