Assignment of the home

The family home is usually assigned to the spouse at whose address the children are placed (that is, at the address where – though in joint custody – the children have their residence). In this case “assignment” means (only) the right to live in the house (and use its furnishings) assigned to the spouse in whose care the children spend most of their time, who takes on the burden – among others – of payment of the ordinary expenses relative to the property in which they live. The assignment does not, however, affect the right of ownership: the ownership of the home remains the same as it was before the separation or divorce.

It is important to note that if the couple is childless no assignment of the home is generally made in favor of one or the other. In other words:

• if the house is owned by one of the spouses the owner has the right to live there and the other spouse will have to leave
• if the house is jointly owned by both spouses, both have the right to live there, so the normal solution, in case of disagreement, will be to sell the house or request judicial division
• if the house is rented, the right to live there remains assigned to the person who signed the lease
• if the spouses are living rent-free (for example, the house is owned by the parents of one of the spouses who are allowed to use it) the choice is left to the owner.

In exceptional cases (that is cases of exceptional need of one of the spouses) there have been decisions that assign the jointly owned home to the spouse in difficulty, even if childless.

The judicial provision of assignment always and only refers to the residence of the couple, that is, to the sole dwelling in which the life of the family effectively took place until the separation (with the exclusion, therefore of rights to any second or third homes). The new law provides that the right to the family home may not apply with the person to whom it is assigned stops living there regularly, or lives with another person out of wedlock, or remarries. It is important to know that in order to improve the safeguard of third party rights, the person to whom the home is assigned can transcribe the provision of assignment at the local Property Registry office.

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