Urgent advice please re house and separation...

[Smugfearnleyshittingstool]

Advice for friend really. His situation is his wife has moved out with their dc and is living with the man that she had the affair with. His home is mortgaged and is in his name only, although the house was their family home before.

He plans to divorce and give her half of everything. The problem is that she has a key to his home and keep entering and causing damage/ stealing stuff.
Can he legally change the locks to prevent this. The house is for sale and her actions are causing problems with viewings, and generally leaving him feeling quite insecure in his one space.

Yes he can

She has a right to reside in the property, but to enforce that she must apply to court for an occupation order. Given the circumstances she's unlikely to get one, so he can go ahead and change the locks.

no he can't. When my cousin's ex left him she used to come back when he was out and take stuff (remember that if they are married then she is entitled to what's in the house as much as he is). He was told in no uncertain terms that he could not change the locks since she has a legal right to enter the matrimonial home even if she is not currently living there - and they had been married for only eleven weeks.

If her name is on the house deeds as well as his, then she can come and go as she likes, and he can't change the locks. If she's not, then he can.

Accidents happen. Keys get lost or break in locks necessitating the easy task of changing the barrel of a Yale lock the services of a locksmith and a set of new keys.

It often happens that a spare set of new keys cannot be made available unless a Court order is obtained at the time of any request from a party who beliseve they should be able to be free to nick whatever they want come and go as they please.

beliseve?? Clearly this is double dutch for believes

Thankyou, I'm still a little unsure though as some different replies, if anyone knows for sure that he is ok to change the locks that would be great.

I'm a divorce solicitor with 20 years experience behind me. If he were my client I'd be telling him to do that. Look at part 4 of the Family Law Act 1996.

As often is the case, lots of well meaning but wrong advice from non lawyers.

As Collaborate says, he can change the locks because he is the only registered proprietor.

Were the property in joint names then he could not.