Help and info for women

Staying in your own home

You have rights to stay in your own home and make an abusive partner leave. You may have to go to court to have your partner removed and to make him stay away.

The law is complicated so you should speak to an adviser from Women’s Aid or your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau. You will need a solicitor if you go to court to have your partner removed from your home.

Occupancy rights

Your right to stay in your home and the action you take against your partner depends on whether you and/or your partner have occupancy rights.

  • If you are married or in a civil partnership you have automatic occupancy rights whether the house is in your partner’s name, your name or joint names.
  • If you are a not married or in a civil partnership you have automatic occupancy rights if you are the sole or joint owner or tenant of your home.
  • If you are not a sole or joint owner or tenant, then you do not have automatic occupancy rights. But you do have the right to apply to the court to have occupancy rights granted to you for up to six months at a time.
  • If you are not married or in a civil partnership, and you are the sole owner or tenant of your home, your partner has no legal right to stay there.

There are various court orders designed to protect you. These can be used to make an abusive partner leave and also to make him stay away from you.

You may need to use a combination of the following to increase your safety, for example a court order to have a violent partner removed plus an order to keep him away.

Making your partner leave

If you are the sole owner or tenant of your home, and you are not married or in a civil partnership, your partner has no legal right to stay in the house. You do not need a court order to make him leave. You can change the locks when your partner is out and refuse to let him in. If your partner is in the house and refuses to leave you can ask the police to remove him or you can apply to the court for an ejection order.

If you have occupancy rights, you can apply to the court for an exclusion order.

Keeping a violent partner away from you

Once your partner has left you can apply for an interdict or non-harassment order to keep them away.

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