Wife denied access to property
Dear Mrs Macaulay,
I moved from the house owned jointly by my husband and I five years ago. I don’t have any access to the house as he changed the locks. It is jointly owned by us and the mortgage has been paid up. How do I change the ownership from joint tenants to tenants in common so that our son can get my share in the event that I die?
Thanks for your letter. I assume that you and your husband are still married as you refer to him as your husband.
You say you and he are the joint registered proprietors of your erstwhile matrimonial home which you left five years ago. You also say he has changed the locks to the premises and you therefore cannot have access to it. The mortgage you say is all paid up and you want to ensure that your son inherits your share if you happen to die before your husband.
You wish to know how you can change the proprietorship from joint tenancy to tenancy-in-common, so that you can leave your share to your son by your will, I opine.
It is clear from the little you have said, that your husband will not consent to the severance of the joint tenancy.
This being so, you will have to make application to the court for such an order to be made. That is to say, that the joint tenancy be severed on the grounds, or for the reason that your marriage has broken down and there no longer exists any joint intent or interest between your husband and yourself. It seems that neither of you wish to sell the premises and share the proceeds at this stage, therefore as a consequence of his wrongful conduct in locking you out, you deem it prudent to secure your interest by the severing of the joint tenancy.
So please contact an attorney to assist you to make the relevant application and to see the process through to completion with the change of proprietorship endorsed on the title.
Good luck
Divorcee wants to change name
Dear Mrs Macaulay,
I was divorced over 10 years ago. Can I automatically use my maiden name? It was totally changed to my husband’s name, not hyphenated.
Since you adopted your husband’s name after marriage, it has become your name. It matters not whether it was a complete change from yours to his or whether it was hyphenated. Once a wife adopts her husband’s name in place of or in addition to hers and becomes ordinarily known by that name and obtains official documents in the adopted name, it becomes yours. Since following your marriage you elected to adopt his name (in law you do not have to do so) you are stuck with it until you legally effect a change after a breakdown, separation or divorce.
To change back to your family name, you must do so by way of a Deed Poll which should be recorded at the Registrar General’s Department. Once recorded you can then with your stamped recorded copy, effect the necessary changes to all official documents.
Please contact an attorney-at-law to assist you to prepare the Deed Poll and to effect its recording.
Margarette May Macaulay is an attorney-at-law and a Women’s and Children’s Rights Advocate. Send questions and comments via email to allwoman@jamaicaobserver.com.
