ASK AN EXPERT

I’VE been living with my partner for several years and found out that he has been cheating on me. The relationship has now ended and he’s asked me to move out, even though we bought the property together. What can I do?

YOUR rights in terms of occupancy vary depending on several factors.

The first is whether you are named on the title deeds or not. If your name is on there, then you have partial ownership of the property and, as such, have the right to inhabit it.

You can request a copy of the title deeds from the Land Registry or from your solicitor, if you do not have these already.

If you are named on them and your former partner has requested you to leave, then you could consider either selling the property (with any joint owner’s consent) or your partner could buy out your share of the property.

The second area of consideration is your relationship.

Even if you are not named on the title deeds, if you are married or in civil partnership, you have the right to stay in the property until you are divorced or the civil partnership is dissolved.

If you are not married or civil partnered and you are not named on the title deeds, you don’t have an automatic right to stay.

There may be the option to assert your right to stay if you have made financial contributions towards the property (i.e. payment towards a mortgage or improvements/repairs).

In instances such as this, you should seek specialist legal advice. However, unless you have a written agreement stating that a contribution has been made, then it’s unlikely that you will be eligible for any proceeds from the sale.

I hope you get this situation resolved.

I RECENTLY bought a dress on sale in a high street store. However, when I got to the till, the shop assistant said it was incorrectly labelled and would be more expensive. When I returned home, I saw the item listed at the original price that was on the label. Can I do anything about this?

THE trader correcting the error before you purchased the item was the most appropriate course of action.

The trader advertising items on sale is known as “invitation to treat”.

Even though the items were labelled at the discounted price, the trader is not obligated to sell them to you at this price.

If this happens on a regular basis with the same trader, it may be classified as a misleading selling practice, but this would need to be proven.

In relation to the online sale, the trader is also within their rights to sell the item at this discounted price.

Hypothetically, had the item been purchased online, and there been a similar situation as you had in the store, there would be potential recourse if you had received email confirmation of acceptance of the order.

Situations where a trader fails to fix pricing errors, or regularly incorrectly prices items, could be considered breaching the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (2008).

If this is the case, you should contact our consumeradvice.scotteam on 0808 164 6000.