Occupation Orders Solicitors in London

What does an occupation order do?

An occupation order sets out who can live at the family home for the duration of the court order. The court order can also say that the person responding to the injunction application must:

• Move out of the family home
• Not return to live at the family home during the duration of the injunction order
• Keep a certain distance away from the family home. The distance will depend on the location of the family home, the respondent’s address and your place of work
• Only use parts of the family home if the order allows them to continue to occupy the property with you. The order may state that whilst the respondent can stay at the family home, he/she must use a separate bedroom and only use other rooms at set times to minimise contact between the two of you
• Allow you access to the family home if they have, for example, changed the locks or locked you out
• Pay the mortgage or rent and other household bills whilst the injunction order remains in place

Occupation order solicitors will tell you that it is just as important to understand what the order does not do. It does not:

• Change the legal or equitable ownership of the family home. If the property is owned in the sole name of the respondent, then the order allowing you to live in the family home does not give you legal ownership. If you are an unmarried partner or cohabitee, you need family law advice on property claims. If you are a husband or wife, you need divorce legal advice on your best financial settlement options, including orders for the sale or transfer of the family home
• Require the children to live at the family home as the injunction order governs who can occupy the property during the life of the court order. If you and your partner cannot agree on whether the children should live with you or your partner either of you can apply for a child arrangement order to settle with whom the children should live and the contact arrangements
• The order states who can occupy the family home but it may not prevent ongoing domestic abuse. For example, if the respondent is ordered to leave the family home they could continue to send you texts, post online messages or attend your place of work. You may therefore need a non-molestation order to prevent ongoing domestic violence. This injunction application can be made at the same time as your occupation application

What evidence do I need for an occupation order?

Most domestic abuse takes place behind closed doors so our occupation order solicitors understand that you may not have witnesses to the domestic violence you have been subjected to. You can still apply for court protection supported by your witness statement. Your former partner does not need to have been arrested or convicted of a criminal offence and nor do you need to have been hospitalised or seen your GP.  You should not be deterred from seeking legal advice on your family law rights because you do not have independent evidence of the domestic abuse you have suffered. Our family law solicitors will talk you through whether you have the grounds to secure an order and the application process.

What are the alternatives to an occupation order?

There are alternatives to an occupation order, such as:

• Your ex-partner can agree to leave the family home and move in with family or rent accommodation. A letter from a family law solicitor can sometimes achieve the outcome of the respondent leaving the family home voluntarily
• You can leave the family home and move in with family or into rented accommodation. If necessary, you could ask for child support or temporary spousal maintenance to help you meet the costs of renting a property. You should not move out of the family home (unless you are at immediate risk and fear for your safety) until you have taken specialist legal advice because leaving the family home may not be in your or your children’s best interests

Who can apply for an occupation order?

You can apply for an occupation order if you have experienced domestic abuse (there is a wide definition of what constitutes domestic violence) and you meet one of these criteria:

• You own or rent the home and it is, was, or was intended to be shared with your spouse, civil partner, cohabitant, family member, person you are engaged to or parent of your child
• Although you do not own the family home, you are  married or in a civil partnership with the owner and you are living in the home
• Although you do not own the family home, your former husband, wife or civil partner is the owner or tenant, and the property is or was your shared family home, or was intended to be
• Although you do not own the family home or rent the property the respondent is your cohabitee or former cohabitee or the property was intended to be your family home and the respondent owns or rents it

Although the list of who can and cannot apply for occupation orders looks complicated our specialist occupation order solicitors in London can advise you on whether you meet the criteria to apply for an injunction order and talk to you about your best options.

Additional considerations and occupying the family home

In addition to advice on applying for an occupation order a family law solicitor can help answer your questions on problems with occupation orders or on how to sort out:

• Changing the locks on a family home
• Severing the joint tenancy if the family home is jointly owned
• Placing a matrimonial homes rights notice at the land registry if the family home is owned in the sole name of your spouse or cohabitee
• Applying for financial support such as spousal maintenance or child support to help you pay household bills
• Resolving long term occupation and ownership of the family home by advising on property claims if you are a cohabitee or financial settlement claims if you are a husband, wife or civil partner

Applications for an occupation order

The law says that if it appears to the court that the applicant or any relevant child is likely to suffer significant harm attributable to the conduct of the respondent if an occupation order is not made, the court must make an occupation order unless it appears that the respondent or any relevant child is likely to suffer significant harm if the occupation order is made and that harm is as great or greater than the harm likely to be suffered by the applicant for the order.

Our experienced occupation order solicitors in London will explain what that test is likely to conclude taking into account your family circumstances and the fact that the court will also take into account:

• Housing needs and resources of both of you
• The financial resources of both of you
• The likely effect of any order on the health, safety or well-being of you and the respondent and any children
• The conduct of both of you

Further circumstances are taken into consideration depending on which section you are applying for the order under.

Does there have to be physical abuse to secure an occupation order?

There does not have to be physical abuse to secure an order but you must have been subjected to domestic abuse. Our injunction solicitors are asked if they can get an occupation order for emotional abuse. The law defines domestic abuse as including emotional and psychological abuse as well as financial abuse and coercion and control.

How long does it take to get an occupation order?

If your situation is urgent our injunction solicitors can apply for an emergency occupation order and the court can make the order without notice to the respondent on the day of your application. As these injunction orders are considered draconian it is usual for the court to allow the respondent to attend a court hearing to make representations before making an order about occupation of the family home.

How long does the occupation order last?

The duration of the court order depends on your circumstances. The order is not normally intended to provide a long term solution to the occupation of the family home. It is designed to enable one or both of you to occupy the family home until the expiry of the court order or you reach a financial settlement or the court makes a property order or, if you are married, a financial court order.

How much does an occupation order cost?

Our occupation order solicitors in London will talk to you about potential injunction costs depending on the number of court hearings required. If you secure an injunction order you can ask the court to order that the respondent repays your injunction costs.

Get in touch with our injunction solicitors for advice on occupation orders.

Our injunction solicitors can talk to you in confidence at our offices, over the phone or online via Web Conferencing such as Zoom or Skype. To get the expert legal advice you need, contact our injunction solicitors in London.