Daughter Going Through a Divorce -Council Tax Demand Driving Us All Insane

bealine99

My daughter fled an abusive and toxic marriage, leaving the family home, with her two children, in the dead of night two years ago. Her husband carried on living in the family home until May 2026. The Family Matters legal side is all sorted but the Financial Matters Final Hearing isn't until October 2026 (possibly, it will be postponed yet again, as full pension details are proving very slow to obtain!)

When the husband moved out in May, he advised Elmbridge Council that my daughter would be jointly responsible for Council Tax of the empty property. Since then, the Council Tax has been unpaid and now the council has put it in the hands of Staines Magistrates Court. The family home has been on the market since November 2025, but is likely to sell below the mortgage redemption amount.

Neither the Council or the Court will consider any emails detailing her own circumstances. My dauighter has a job earning £1000 a month, she has child maintenance of £900 a month and is topped up with Universal Credit so she and her children can just about exist (and she has to pay council tax on her modest rented house.)

It was bad enough dealing with the fallout from a highly toxic marriage and rebuilding my daughter's life without all this hassle. Is there anything we can do, as a family, to get the council and the court off her back? My wife and I are tempted to dig into our retirement savings and pay the wretched council tax for her, but if we do, then that becomes another asset her husband can claim that half should belong to him.

Your advice, please, would be gratefully received.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6680029/daughter-going-through-a-divorce-council-tax-demand-driving-us-all-insane

So presumably they jointly owned the property?

Once the property became empty the liability for council tax moves from the occupier to the owner(s). Assuming she is named on the deeds of the property she would be jointly and severally liable for the council tax (ie the council can go after either of the owners for 100% of the council tax, they dont have to try and get a percentage from each)

Council tax is generally a priority debt to be paying

RAS

Can we just clarify the dates since which your SIL has declared that your daughter has become liable jointly? And exactly what months the Council are chasing? Any chance the debt includes dates/debt before May 2026?

Albermarle

When people have money problems, they are normally advised to still pay council tax as a priority before other debts. The council has wider powers than say a credit card provider . For example they can take money from your salary, plus of course it will damage credit records.

UKTaxHelper

The court hearing only decides whether the tax is owed and unpaid, so her circumstances have nowhere to land there. That isn't the council being awkward. Where circumstances do count is a discretionary hardship reduction, which councils can grant right down to nil. Separate written application, not affected by the liability order, so worth putting in now.

lincroft1710

Daughter and (ex) husband will remain jointly and severally liable for the CT until the house has a new owner or occupier. If the house remains empty for more than 12 months then a premium may be charged

Exodi

bealine99

When the husband moved out in May, he advised Elmbridge Council that my daughter would be jointly responsible for Council Tax of the empty property.

If they are joint owners as this suggests, then this sounds like a reasonable position.

bealine99

Since then, the Council Tax has been unpaid and now the council has put it in the hands of Staines Magistrates Court.

A regrettable, but entirely preventable situation. I think we can draw from this your daughter refused to pay half with the ex-husband (presumably causing him to do the same) - ironically likely under similar logic as you are now "if we do, then that becomes another asset her husband can claim that half should belong to him."

bealine99

Neither the Council or the Court will consider any emails detailing her own circumstances.

I think the council just doesn't have the capacity to deal with stories about peoples circumstances and why they can't pay their bills.

What about the other costs for the house? E.g. mortgage, utilities (not far off £1 a day in standing charges for gas and electric), buildings insurance, etc.

bealine99

Is there anything we can do, as a family, to get the council and the court off her back?

Agreeing to settle the council tax arrears seems the most obvious (assuming the ex-husband is still good on his offer to pay half).

Unfortunately I expect the circumstances surrounding the divorce have distorted the decision making process here.

One could view it that it doesn't necessarily matter who pays what, as the pot will be split so they'll end up with the same regardless of who pays the council tax now (unless you inject new money, of course).

I think the daughter willing to co-operate to get this done, no matter how hard that might be, will be key. Both of them point-scoring throughout the process will only cause more issues and it becomes a feedback loop. It's also likely to trash their credit files if they're defaulting on things.

Exodi

UKTaxHelper

The court hearing only decides whether the tax is owed and unpaid, so her circumstances have nowhere to land there. That isn't the council being awkward. Where circumstances do count is a discretionary hardship reduction, which councils can grant right down to nil. Separate written application, not affected by the liability order, so worth putting in now.

Indeed, though before the OP places all their faith into this, it's worth considering that this is for those who can demonstrate exceptional financial difficulty, though it is discretionary.

At least for my council, it requires disclosure of your incomings and outgoings, where it can be evidenced that paying council tax would not leave enough for basic need such as housing, food, heating, lighting or essential medical needs.

Under eligibility, it states that it only applies to property the person is resident in, is in receipt of council tax reduction and can demonstrate the other liable parties could not contribute towards the liability. I've only mentioned a few points, but the actual eligibility criteria is long. Even in the few I mentioned, it would appear the OP would not be eligible, at least for my council.

With the circumstances in mind, where it is an owned property by the parties and neither are resident in it, and both parties are refusing to pay council tax primarily due to a breakdown in their relationship, as opposed to physically not having the financial capacity to do so (OP mentions daughter gets £1.9k from employment and child maintenance + universal credit top up + at least £180 in child benefit and lives in a modest rented property, we don't know the partners financial circumstances), I suspect it would be difficult to demonstrate they are applying for the funds due to extreme hardship.

MayDogsandCoffee

How much is the council tax and is it worth a CCJ that could have an impact on her now and future employment.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82108163#Comment_82108163

Even if she did get a CCJ, they would still want paying, so she might as well just pay up, like we all have to .

Jude57

Council Tax is not dealt with in the County Court. It's dealt with in the Magistrate's Court where a Liability Order, not a CCJ is obtained. Most Councils don't report to credit reference agencies but the debt collection agency (DCA) and certificated bailiffs Councils employ to collect unpaid Council Tax may well do so. The Liability Order allows the Council to take further recovery action including passing the debt to a DCA or bailiff, attachment of earnings or certain benefits (the amounts to be deducted from earnings or benefits are non-negotiable and are set out in secondary legislation) among other methods. It's up to the Council which Liable Party they choose to pursue for a joint and several debt. If one LP is working and the other is not, it's likely that the Council will go after the working person by attachment of earnings if they know where that person works. In a joint and several situation both parties are liable for 100% of the debt and the Council don't care who pays what amount as long as 100% of the debt is cleared.

In this particular case, if there will be enough equity available when the house is sold, I'd be asking the solicitor dealing with the sale to offer a solicitor's Undertaking (a written formal, legally binding promise) to the Council that any outstanding Council Tax will be paid out of the proceeds of sale. In this way, neither LP has to pay anything yet and the Council Tax is paid by the solicitor in the same way that the outstanding mortgage balance is paid off before the remaining proceeds of sale are split between the parties. It's possibly worth contacting the local Councillor to ask them to mediate this between the daughter and the Council Tax team. While it can be difficult for the average person to get through to a human being with authority in Council departments, Councillors can simply walk up to the desk of the appropriate person and get their input.

For what it's worth, I worked in Council Tax recovery. I hope this helps.