Breaking up
Breaking up is famously ‘hard to do’, and never is this more true than for couples who live together.
It is often only when your relationship ends that you realise you don't have the rights you assumed you would have...
If you were never married there is no formal process available which might actually make it easier for you. Instead you're left to come to an agreement about what you are going to do with everything by yourselves. 
Whether your break up is acrimonious or deeply civilised it's never easy to sort things out tidily and fairly. Many people just want to get away from the whole sorry affair as quickly as possible, even if it means leaving loose ends. But this is a bad idea. Loose ends have a way of tripping you up when you least expect it, and realising several years too late that you made a costly mistake will make you feel angry and resentful.
That is why we've produced a 
Breaking Up checklist (250 KB) a complete guide to help you sort things out as fairly as possible, and avoid leaving any loose ends.
Confused about what each of your rights are to stay in the home or get a share of it's value? Our Housing leaflet (363 KB) explains all.
Finding it impossible to agree?
If you're finding it impossible to agree what to do you could get help from a family mediator. Mediators are trained to help couples work out what they're going to do about their children, home and finances when they separate. They won't make the decisions for you! But they'll help you to work out what the options are and help you decide which will work best for both of you. For more information, or to listen in on mediation session with our podcasts, see our
Family Mediation pages.
