Savings when seperating- scared I will lose it all

neneromanova

He is a trespasser in the property. He should have been on the tenancy in the first place as you were together. As he is not, he is classed as a trespasser.

WHEN A SQUATTER IS NOT SQUATTING

First things first, if your tenant decides not to leave when he should - say after the expiration of a section 21 notice - he’s not a squatter.

For tenants like this you have to use normal court processes to get them out and not rely on your own “self help” measures.

For evictions of assured shorthold tenants following non-payment of rent or because they have not left at the end of the tenancy and after the appropriate correct notices have been served, you can probably follow the court procedures yourself without having to pay for the services of a solicitor.


THE REAL SQUATTERS

Real squatters are people who have no right to be in your property, either because your tenant has let them in (and they are not on the tenancy agreement and there has been no agreement by you to allow your tenants to sub-let), or they could be a third party who has simply let themselves in, while the property was left empty, unoccupied and unsecured.

In effect they are trespassers. (In fact there is no legal definition of squatter!)

If a trespasser is in occupation you ARE able to rely on self help measures (i.e. not involving the court) to get the property back.

Clearly, what you have to do is somehow get into the property and change the locks and secure it. But herein lies a problem.

Although you can do this yourself - and you would be wise to have the police there when the squatters come back – what you cannot do is use forceful entry if one of the squatters is actually in the property at the time and opposes you.

RAS

A couple of things then.

1. Go and see the EA or speak to the LL and ask them to issue an S21. That means that if he fails to move out, they can start action to remove him (and end your liability) legally. They need to do that at least 2 months before the end date of the contract.

It also give you a legal bit of paper that you can wave under his nose to confirm that this termination of the contract is for real.

What arrangments have you made for DD over the summer holidays? Do you have child care sorted?

Treevo

He is not the tenant so wouldn't that mean he is effectively a squatter? And as that's now illegal, he can be removed by the police.

teawithmilk

Thats good then, thank you for that very useful advice.

If the worst comes to the worst at the start of September I could wait until he is out and then get the locks changed. That would then give me 2-3 weeks to get the place tidied up and his stuff put into storage.

I think once he realises Im serious he will have to do something. Even if it means putting his stuff into a store unit and living in a hotel for a while.

Maybe that will finally make him see that I wasnt such a useless rubbish wife who did nothing for him (his words to me!)

I'm sure my older brother would help me if necessary but he is working abroad at the moment but he might be able to get some of his mates to help me out (in an absolute emergency) or I might go on rated people and look for a big bloke to employ for a day to help me move him out (joke!)

RAS

He is not a squatter. He moved into the house with her consent and she is paying rent.

It is possible that if he remains in the property after twm's tenancy ends that the Estate Agents could remove him as a squatter but at present NO.

There are a number of other categories (excluded occupier, lodger etc) twm needs proper advice.

It may be that she has to formally give him written notice for example and it may be that this has to be by a specific date.

NAR

teawithmilk wrote: »

and I think things will become a lot clearer next week when DDs birthday is over, when I remind him that the lease is up and also when he gets the divorce petition.

And we all hope he is reasonable and takes steps regarding his OWN future. However TWM I think what everyone is saying here is that you need to have a Plan B, that you can invoke if he decides to play silly beggars.

neneromanova

RAS wrote: »

He is not a squatter. He moved into the house with her consent and she is paying rent.

It is possible that if he remains in the property after twm's tenancy ends that the Estate Agents could remove him as a squatter but at present NO.

There are a number of other categories (excluded occupier, lodger etc) twm needs proper advice.

It may be that she has to formally give him written notice for example and it may be that this has to be by a specific date.

Doesn't matter if it was her consent, what matters is if it was with the landlords/estate agents consent.

teawithmilk

I havent got childcare sorted yet...he wants to take her away for the first week, then have booked the 2nd week off. So that leaves 4 wks......Im sure I could book at least another week off perhaps at the end of the summer break if I told my boss what was going on so that leaves me 3 wks without childcare.....my sister is a teacher and will be off so I could ask her to help out with a few days and possibly my mum, although she would probably end up being looked after by DD rather than the other way round! so I maybe need to investigate holiday clubs- another job for tomorrow. I could always take her into work with me for a couple of days- they are fairly flexible and a lot of the time Im left in charge of the place anyway (Im sort of second in command in our department) and I have my own office so she could just sit and watch some DVDs or something.

In an ideal world he might offer/want to look after her for more than the week that he has planned to take her away. So fingers crossed he will do that.

Pixiechic

Teawithmilk, I would definitely get advise about the best legal way to remove him from the house if he doesn't go willingly. Just arming yourself and preparing now will help later down the line.

Your ex is not your child and you are not responsible for him now. If you keep making things easy for him then you will make a rod for your own back later on.

It will do him good to learn how to stand on his own feet again because your 'help' only seems to have enabled him to do nothing.

LannieDuck

teawithmilk wrote: »

Actually there is another thing that I havent even thought of that has just occurred to me: What if the landlord decided in July that he wants to give notice and sell the house or not relet it. I dont think he will as he seems to be in it for the longer term, but it is always a possibility...

It doesn't matter, since it won't affect you or DD.

In fact, it would work to your advantage, because then the landlord would have a reason to want your OH out too.