Situation - Currently separated with divorce in process I have been locked out of my Polsih home, and have no key. Can I enter legally and retrieve belongings when the property is currently empty/abandoned? I am the joint owner. I will need to force entry.
I have not been excluded by any court order. I am registered as the joint owner with my spouse. The electric bills, water etc are still in my name as far as I am aware. I left nearly 2 years ago due to domestic violence. i am aware that the property has been left empty and boarded up since the end of last year. I have simply been refused a key by my estranged spouse upon request. I am not sure what the meldunek ? is. The house in Poland was my marital home, and I have no other home. I have never officially left.
The meldunek is a document to say you live there. If it's your house, there's no reason you can't enter through the door, window or for that matter down the chimney (but take a document along to prove you're an owner just in case a neighbour phones the police).
Thanks Jon - That's what I thought. Makes perfect sense really. I will visit the neighbours first, they were my friends, and let them know I'm around. I guess if the house has been abandoned by my OH there is nothing to stop me changing the locks and taking up residence if I so wish?
As far as I know, yes. If you're the/an owner, you have a right to live there. It would make sense to get a meldunek from the town hall (a little document that proves you have right to reside there, takes a few minutes to get, you'll need your Akt Notarialny) if you want to live there. If you have children and you're registered as living there, you can't be forced out under any circumstances. Be aware though that if your ex is co-owner, he can also register as living there (and if he's Polish, he probably will have anyway).
Ok... he is not Polish. I don't believe he has registered but may have done. No children involved, thankfully. Any idea of the law if he should pitch up and behave aggressively?
You can even live there with him living there too as long as it is in your name as well. He could go to court and unless he could prove you're a danger to him or the house then they wouldn't be able to do a thing.
My wife has even told me about people who have got divorced but because both names were on the home the judge said both could live there.
Thank you Schmiznurf - Does this mean I could go to court in Poland and attempt to prove that he is a danger to me, thereby getting him excluded from living there while I am also there? What must I do to prove this?
There would have to have been incidents whereby the police were called out to deal with him, beyond that you would probably have to talk with a solicitor to mount a case for his exclusion.
