Occupation orders and the family home

An occupation order concerns who may live in or enter the family home. It does not transfer the property into someone else's name. In England and Wales, the available route depends partly on the relationship and each person's rights in the home. ^[1]

Explain the legal and physical layout

Supply the tenancy or ownership details, who currently occupies the address and whether anyone has already left. Describe shared entrances, outbuildings or a business operated from the property where these affect the protection sought. The adviser needs to understand what an exclusion or permitted area would mean in practice.

Identify children and other residents, accessible accommodation needs and the alternatives realistically available. Do not treat an offer of a temporary sofa as equivalent to secure, suitable housing.

Separate occupation from ongoing payments

List the mortgage, rent, utilities and insurance, including whose name appears on each account. Excluding someone from a home does not automatically release them from a loan or tenancy obligation. Ask which payment arrangements can be addressed in the proceedings and which require agreement with a lender or landlord.

Plan how essential possessions could be collected without unauthorised contact. If remaining in the home is unsafe, housing options after domestic abuse may be more immediately relevant. For restrictions on threatening behaviour, compare non-molestation orders.

Describe the connection to the property accurately An adviser needs to know whether the home is owned, rented or occupied under another arrangement, and how each person became entitled to live there. Provide the names on the relevant documents and explain the relationship history. If the paperwork is unavailable, describe what you know and where it may be held. Do not obtain it through an unsafe confrontation. The official eligibility guidance covers several relationship and occupation situations, so a missing name on the title does not settle every application question. [1]

State whether the property is the current home, a former shared home or somewhere intended as a shared home. Give dates for significant changes, including separation and anyone leaving or returning. A short description of the current position is more useful than assuming that ownership alone determines who may enter during a dispute. Ask which legal basis the adviser is considering and what further facts are needed to assess the court's powers in your circumstances.

Make the proposed boundaries physically understandable A restriction needs to work at the actual address. Explain entrances, shared corridors, gardens, parking, storage and any adjoining workspace that could bring the parties into contact. Where necessary, a simple description or existing plan can help the adviser understand the practical issue. Identify whether essential facilities are shared and whether a proposed division would leave someone unable to use a bathroom, prepare food or access an exit. Avoid supplying a protected location more widely than the process requires.

Consider ordinary events that would test the arrangement: delivery of post, collecting work equipment, children returning from school or a contractor needing access. Explain which of these create risk and which could be managed through an authorised third party. The purpose is to help formulate workable restrictions, rather than negotiate informal exceptions after the order is made. If a proposed condition depends on another person supervising every visit, establish whether that person is willing, suitable and permitted to perform that role.

Explain the consequences for everyone living there Give a factual account of the housing alternatives and their limitations. Availability, safety, accessibility, distance from school and the needs of children or dependent adults can all affect the practical picture. A room offered for one night should be described as such, rather than presented as settled alternative accommodation. If the household includes a lodger, relative or someone with separate rights, identify that issue so the adviser can assess how the proposed order may affect them.

Discuss how household costs would be managed during any restriction. The court application and the contractual position with a lender, landlord or utility provider should be considered distinctly. A person may be excluded from occupying a property while questions about payment remain unresolved. Ask which matters the proposed order can address and what separate contact or advice is necessary. Keep records of payments and arrears so that a temporary protective arrangement does not obscure a developing risk to the home itself.

Prepare for the order's operation and eventual end If an order is made, check the precise areas and conduct it covers, when it begins and how long it lasts. Ask about service, implementation and the response to a suspected breach; do not assume that every type of protective order has identical enforcement provisions. Keep the actual document available through a safe arrangement. A summary given to a friend or neighbour should not replace professional clarification of a term that affects access to the premises.

Use the period of protection to identify the longer-term housing questions that still require a decision. These may involve tenancy arrangements, ownership, sale, financial proceedings or alternative accommodation. The expiry of an occupation order should not arrive as an unplanned return to uncertainty about access. Tell the adviser before that date if continuing protection or different terms may be needed. Where staying becomes unsafe despite the order, seek appropriate help rather than assuming that the legal right to occupy guarantees practical safety.