Civil partner owner occupiers and safeguarding occupancy rights
There are a number of steps that a non-entitled partner or joint owner can take to safeguard her/his occupancy rights.
Sole owner
If there is a sole owner, the non-entitled civil partner can take steps in order to secure or protect her/his occupancy rights in the family home.
S/he can:
pay the mortgage or instalments of a secured loan [1]
carry out essential repairs [2]
if authorised by the court carry out improvements to the home [3]
take any others steps that the homeowner may take to protect her/his occupancy rights [4]
apply to the court for an order to enforce their rights. [5]
These steps can be taken without the entitled partner's consent. [6]
In the event that a lender commences proceedings to enforce a debt secured on the family home, it is possible for the non-entitled partner to go to court to request action to be suspended under the Mortgage Rights (Scotland) Act 2001. [7] For more information, please see the section on mortgage arrears - court action.
Joint owners
Where there are joint owners, either partner can apply to the court for an order allowing her/him to carry out non-essential repairs or improvements. The other partner's consent is not required. [8]
Sole and/or joint owners
Either partner can go to court to seek an order apportioning certain expenditure in the family home, for example the mortgage or payment for essential repairs. This means that the non-entitled partner could pay the mortgage to ensure that the family home is not repossessed and then seek an order regulating payments from the entitled partner. When deciding how to divide the expenditure, the court will take account of each civil partner's respective financial resources. [9]
Last updated: 6 August 2020