Assumption: "If I move out of the family home, I have to carry on paying the council tax and the household bills."

Court Reality

The answer depends on the type of bill. Council tax follows who lives in the property. Where a joint owner or joint tenant moves out and another resident stays, the remaining resident is solely liable from the date the other person moved out. If nobody is resident, the owner is liable. Gas, electricity and water follow the account. An account in your name, or in joint names, stays your responsibility until it is closed or moved into one name, so the supplier has to be told you have left. Arrears built up while you lived there stay with the account holder. Whether one spouse contributes towards the other's household costs after separation is a different question. That is a matter for agreement, or for the court in financial proceedings. The mortgage is different again: a joint borrower stays liable to the lender after moving out (see gaps 36 and 41).