Remedies on divorce

In cases where a person is dependent on occupancy rights to occupy the matrimonial home, that right will come to an end on divorce. For more information, please see the page on the consequences of leaving home.

In an action of divorce the court can grant an order regulating the occupation of the home and exclusion from it after the divorce. [1] Such an order must be justified by reference to the general principles used by the court in deciding how to regulate finances between the parties.

This is not an emergency remedy. It cannot be granted on an interim basis. It does not allow for decision-making on the basis of the need for protection of one of the parties. It is a remedy concerned with the fairness of the distribution of the economic effects of marriage. [2] It is more likely to be used to regulate the occupation of a house until children are aged 16, than have any relevance to those seeking protection from abuse.