FDR next week

I am the applicant in an Ancillary Relief case. My ex (we are now divorced) moved into our holiday home (joint owned) and has now said that she has moved out. I am traveliing to the coast to drop of her furniture and pick some up of mine this weekend. I am also going to take photos as I suspect the house to be in a state of disrepair. I have emailed my ex to say I am coming, she has not replied, but I suspect she may have changed the locks. The FDR is scheduled for next week.

Will I be within my rights to force entry if she has changed the locks? It seems inevitable that the house will eventually be transferred to my sole name, and I want photos to allow me to assess the cost of putting everything back straight.

Any advice gratefully received. Thanks

legally, if the hosue is in your (or your joint) names you are entitled to gain entry.

Practuically - try all other options first. Have you asked her for the keys? Make a written request asking her to confirm (a) wether she has changed the locks, and (b) if so, asking that she let you have a set of keys as you wish to go into the property. (I assume you still have a set f the original keys?)

If you do have to get the locks changed then make sure you get spare keys so you can provide these to her on request, get eveything done professionally by a locksmith and make sure you have proof of your ownership of the property if you do try to forced entry, to avoid embarassment if a neighbour sees you breaing in and calls police.

If it turns out that she has NOT moved out, then do NOT try to force entry. While it would not be against the law in terms of your ownship of the property, it would very probably be seen as harassment, and would not reflect well on you.

If you have genuine concerns about the state of the proeprty you can raise these at court and ask the court to make a direction that she allow you access / prvide keys (or the Judge may simply tell her that if she doesn;t, you will have to gain entry forcibly, which then covers your back if you do have to!)

If you need to negotiate terms you can always seek to make it a proviso that the cost of making good any damage is deducted from any sum paid to her, if you think there is a real risk that she will have done significant, deliberate damge. Tis would not be aporopriate if the situation is that the hosue may be in a poor state of repairs (and she may well argue that if it is, it''s becuase she could not afford to repair it)