EVICTION

Last month an eviction took place in the village where I live in the full glare of TV cameras. A man who had been living in a caravan and various ramshackle buildings he had erected in a field was forced to move on when, after 7 years of legal battles, representatives from the planning department accompanied by police moved in to demolish what had become a shanty town for one. Losing one’s home is inevitably an emotional experience and it is something that regularly happens in divorce proceedings when short of splitting a home in two, one or both must leave. The Courts however cry shy of pre-judging who should be able to retain the home, leaving that issue for a final hearing unless and in the meantime it is necessary to intervene for the sake of protecting one of the couple from violence by the other.

How often do divorce solicitors have to warn clients to stay calm in the face of what appear to be overt attempts to cause an inflammatory scene, involve the police and have the unsuspecting other half caught like Professor Plum in the library with the lead pipe in one hand? In the present recession when houses are failing to sell and couples want to separate but can’t, more and more couples find themselves continuing to live together in the same home. If only for the sake of their children, I urge them to remain on civil terms.