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| The following can only be a brief introduction of the legal subject concerned. Before you take any action which may have legal consequence, you should first seek advice from your own lawyer or make an appointment at any District Office to see a volunteer lawyer of the Free Legal Advice Scheme. (101) MATRIMONIAL RIGHTS DURING MARRIAGE During marriage, both spouses have a right to live together as man and wife. The wife generally has a right to be maintained by the husband and this can be enforced by an application to the court under the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Ordinance or the Separation and Maintenance Orders Ordinance. It cannot be done under the second Ordinance if the wife has committed adultery. There are various grounds for making an application for maintenance including desertion, wilful neglect to maintain wife or children and persistent cruelty to them. The Court may also grant a non-cohabitation order by which the wife is released for her duty to live with her husband. But this order does not exclude the husband from the matrimonial home. To do that, the wife must apply to the court for an injunction. The husband can get a non-cohabitation order too if the wife is a drug addict or habitual drunkard. If one spouse subjects the other or the children to physical violence, a report should be made to the Police in urgent cases. An application should also be made to the court restraining the spouse or excluding him or her from the matrimonial home. If the spouse breaches the injunction, it can be enforced by proceedings for contempt of court. The Police cannot automatically arrest the offender in these cases. In considering an injunction, the court will balance the merits or both parties, particularly taking into account what is best for the children. Spouses have equal rights of occupation of the matrimonial home. If one is the owner or the tenant, the other has a right to live there. But that right disappears where a third party becomes involved; so if the husband sells the matrimonial house to someone else, the wife cannot continue to live there. Her only right is that the husband must provide her with some suitable alternative accommodation; and she can get a court injunction stopping him from selling the matrimonial house until he has done that. If the property is in joint names, it must be disposed of jointly. Where it is registered in one spouse's name but the other has paid a share of the purchase price, then the registered owner must get the other spouse's consent or apply for a court order. If he or she sells to avoid distribution on divorce, the transaction may be liable to be set aside and the proceeds may have to be accounted for. Date of amendment: 1st October 1992
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