Matrimonial Home Rights

This content applies to England only.

Housing laws vary between England and Scotland. Get advice relating to Scotland

If you are married or in a registered civil partnership, ‘matrimonial home rights’ (or ‘home rights’) can give you the right to live in your home, even if your partner/spouse is the sole owner or tenant of the property.

What are home rights?

Where the other person owns the home (including as a long leaseholder), registering these rights with the Land Registry can protect your legal interest in the property. If the worst happens and you split up, it could prevent your partner/spouse from selling the property or taking out further loans against it without your permission.

Home rights are the right to occupy the home. Registering your home rights does not affect your rights to a share of the value of the home, if or when it is sold. The question of who gets what will be dealt with in your divorce proceedings, or through inheritance.

Home rights cannot be registered if you are:

a periodic tenant – where your tenancy runs from week to week, or month to month, or
a tenant with a short fixed-term under seven years.

In these circumstances, however, home rights give you the right to occupy the home, and not to be evicted by the other person except by court order.

You also have the right to pay rent and take part in any court proceedings concerning the home, such as a possession claim by the landlord.

How can I protect my rights to the home?

You can protect your matrimonial home rights by registering a charge at the Land Registry to give notice to any potential buyer or lender that you have rights to the home. This will ensure that they know that you also have rights over the property and that the property cannot be sold, remortgaged, or repossessed without your knowledge, or agreement.

If you think that your spouse or civil partner may try and sell the property or take out further secured loans against it, you should register your rights as soon as possible.

How do I register my home rights?

The process for registering your matrimonial home rights depends on whether the property is registered land or unregistered land.

To find out whether the property is registered or unregistered, you can send Form SIM to the Land Registry.

Registered land

For registered land, a notice at the Land Registry will protect your rights to occupy the home. You will need to complete Form HR1 available from the Land Registry.

Unregistered land

For unregistered land you will need to register a Class F land charge at the Land Charges department of the Land Registry, by completing Form K2.

It is important to note if your property is leasehold, that leases of less than 7 years cannot be registered.

You can download a leaflet about registering home rights from the Land Registry website.

When do my matrimonial home rights start?

Your matrimonial home rights start from the latest of the following dates:

the date when your partner acquired the property
the date of your marriage or civil partnership, or
1st January 1968.

When do my home rights end?

Your home rights normally only last as long as your marriage or civil partnership. Therefore any home rights will end on:

the death of your spouse or civil partner
the divorce or annulment of your marriage
the dissolution or annulment of your civil partnership.

However, in some cases, the court can make a ‘continuation order’ order saying that your home rights are to continue – even where you have not registered your rights.

What happens if the court makes a continuation order?

If the court makes a continuation order, for example, if you are getting divorced or prior to the death of your spouse/partner, then you should apply to the Land Registry as soon as possible and register your home rights (if you have not previously registered them). This will ensure that your rights to the home are protected – and make sure that the courts, your (former) partner and any potential buyers have notice of your claim to the property.

If you had previously registered the land charge before any court order has been made, you will need to renew your registration to take account of the court order. If you are in this situation, contact the Land Registry for more information on how to do this.

How can I find out if my partner has registered their home rights?

If you are the sole owner of the property, you can find out whether your partner has registered their home rights, by sending an application using Form SIM to the Land Registry.

When you apply, you must ensure that you write the following across the top of the form: “This search is being made solely for the purposes of the Family Law Act 1996.”

Do I need to keep the Land Registry informed if things change?

Yes. It is important to keep your contact details up to date in case you move, so that the Land Registry can contact you as soon as possible if they need to.

You will also need to cancel your registration if your rights have been brought to an end in the following circumstances:

on the death of your spouse or civil partner
on divorce, or on the annulment of your marriage, or on the dissolution or nullity of your civil partnership
by a court order
if you come to a voluntary agreement with your partner.

For general enquiries contact the Land Registry on 0844 892 1111 or email customersupport@landregistry.gsi.gov.uk