You keep the house…

The recent case of Birch v Birch highlights the impact of issues such as the current cost of rehousing on divorce cases, explains Hazel Wright.

Relationship breakdown leads to living apart. That means funding two homes, on the same budget as before, and each new home will be less expensive than the former home. Children want to stay in the family home, which helps provide stability over schools, local friends, and after-school activities. Can the present home be retained for a while?

In July 2010, Mr and Mrs Birch decided she and the children should stay in the home for now. They agreed she would try to get him released from the mortgage. If she had not succeeded by September 2012, she undertook to the court to sell the house so that there would be no continuing liability. Meanwhile she promised to pay the mortgage.

Read the full article in Solicitors Journal here, behind a paywall.