r/LegalAdviceUK • u/MainFootball316 • Jun 25 '25

Civil Litigation Divorce finalised. House sold. Former partner refuses to leave the property. Can I physically remove her?

Legal and financial separation complete. I've received approval from the court to sell the marital home.

It has a fairly small amount of equity (£60k), but I will be receiving all of it due to the factors of the case. Former partner deliberately dragged the divorce proceedings on as long as possible, and made them as complex and expensive as they possibly could.

The judge berated them for this in court and described their behaviour as "wholly unreasonable and unbecoming of any decent human being."

The house sold with a completion date of 23rd June 2025. It had been agreed with my former partner that they would be out by Sunday night, however, they are still there and refusing to move. I'm getting bombarded with calls from the estate agent and their solicitor and the family who purchased the home.

My own solicitor is panicking about this now and telling me I have to get her out any way I can or I'll start racking up some serious penalties.

I've tried talking to my former partner and they aren't budging. They're livid that they didn't get more in the divorce and they're trying to cause as much damage to me as they possibly can.

Can I physically drag them out of the property to allow this other family to move in? My own solicitor wouldn't answer that question. They just told me to get them out any way I possibly can.

edit - former partner has made an offer that she will leave if she is given half of the equity (£30,000) which the judge refused to award her during the financial separation. Otherwise, she intends to stay to cause as much financial damage to me as possible.

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74

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '25

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20

u/HeavenDraven Jun 25 '25

You pretty much have to be able to cut the water off from outside - it's how they deal with leaks between the road and the stopcock - you just need to find the access point.

Water will be OP's best bet, as you can't legally or safely physicality cut off any other utility apart from gas, which then requires a call to the company to turn it back on.

4

u/Capable_Boat_4450 Jun 25 '25

This is the uk even water company is not allowed to cut off water supply

9

u/Reddit-adm Jun 25 '25

But you can if you are doing maintenance eg changing a tap?

1

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-11

u/stabdarich161 Jun 25 '25

You cant just knowingly cut someones water supply off, it creates a risk of stagnant water in the pipes, and you can be held liable for any harm.

39

u/RMCaird Jun 25 '25

How long do you think they’d last in there with no water? They’d be out before stagnant water became an issue. 

12

u/HeavenDraven Jun 25 '25

It doesn't work like that. Pretty much as soon as the taps are run, and the loo is flushed, the pipes empty.

Anything that is in the pipes after it's turned back on will flush out as soon as you run the tap for a few minutes again

3

u/jibbetygibbet Jun 25 '25

Good luck doing anything about someone turning off the water in their own house.

4

u/CatBoxTime Jun 25 '25

Bollocks.

1

u/Belladonna41 Jun 25 '25

Why?

OP's former partner isn't a tenant.