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Family

Talking it out

Statistics show that more children than ever woke up Christmas morning with only one of their parents, following a relationship break-up. According to research, published by the Marriage Foundation, one in three children under the age of 15 woke up with just one parent on Christmas morning. Alongside, are many more families where couples will have 'held it together' for one last family Christmas, but who will now be heading for divorce. The latest EU data shows that the UK has the highest rate of family breakdown in Western Europe.…

The rights of Grandparents

In a divorce, nobody really comes out of the process a 'winner'. Hostilities between battling spouses can sour relationships not just between them, but throughout the wider family group too. Courts do their very best to protect the interests and the wellbeing of the most vulnerable members of the family, the children. But what about the older relatives? In a divorce, what rights do grandparents have, and how should they deal with what is always a painful and emotional situation? The forgotten victims Grandparents can often be the forgotten victims…

How to behave yourself in front of the kids during a divorce

During a divorce, the priority has to be the kid’s welfare and wellbeing. Using them as a weapon against your partner in a messy breakup is cruel in the extreme. It’s important to recognise from the outset that children react to stressful situations in very different ways to adults. They have no frame of reference to work from, so to them the feelings of abandonment, confusion, loneliness and even anger are new and often completely overwhelming. Often, children will blame themselves for the break-up of their parents’ relationship, and it…

Civil partnerships for all?

In a recent survey regarding whether Civil Partnerships should be made available for heterosexual couples, 57% of people asked stated that they felt all couples should be given the right to enter into a civil partnership and 20% of people stated that civil partnerships should be removed altogether, with 24% stating they did not know or did not mind what should happen. The term civil partnership in law has been used to refer to same sex relationships and the Civil Partnership Act 2004 governs this type of relationship. This also…

Unmarried couples need to protect themselves

A landmark victory in the Supreme Court has seen a Northern Ireland woman win a share of her former partner’s pension, with commentators saying it’s likely to add impetus to the drive for greater rights for unmarried couples.  But, in the meantime, cohabitees should face up and formalise arrangements, rather than keeping their fingers crossed.   The victory of Denise Brewster involved her claim for a survivor’s pension after her long-term, live-in partner Lenny McMullan died suddenly, shortly after they had become engaged.  He had paid into Northern Ireland’s local…

Getting rocky relationships through the New Year

The month of January can be a rocky one for families, in the post- Christmas period, which is often followed with news of unhappy couples who decide to call it quits, as family lawyers receive a surge of enquiries in the New Year.   According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the overall rates of divorce are continuing to fall. There were 111,169 divorces in 2014, a decrease of 3.1% compared with 2013 and 27% lower than 2003. Compared with data from 2004, divorce rates were…

Changes: Are you eligible for Legal Aid?

The legal aid system drastically changed since 1 April 2013. This was when the Legal Services Commission was replaced by the Legal Aid Agency, and the cuts imposed by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012 took effect. LASPO implements substantial scope cuts to civil legal aid. Domestic violence: trigger evidence Under the new family legal aid rules, most private law services are only available to the victims of domestic violence. In order to be entitled to legal aid, the client has to prove that they…

Keeping children safe as the days get darker

The clocks will be going back at 2am on Sunday 30th October, bringing lighter mornings and darker evenings, and parents are being encouraged to take a safety check with children in readiness for the change. This year marks the centenary for daylight saving, a practice introduced during the First World War to save on energy costs and offer people more time outdoors. But even though it’s been around for 100 years, the change still catches many people out, particularly when it comes to the darker end to the school day.…

Aiming for a win-win separation

When celebrities divorce, it makes for big headlines. Since Johnny Depp and Amber Heard announced their separation a few weeks ago, the most private aspects of their life together has been played out in public and open for examination by the media and online commentators. With court documents detailing lavish lifestyles and counter-accusations of drug taking and abuse, the proceedings look set to secure many more headlines as they unfold. By contrast, BBC2’s TV latest series, Mr & Mrs: Call the Mediator, shows a different side to divorce, with negotiated…

Rising cost of divorce encourage couples to ‘nest’ together

Splitting couples are facing a rising cost of divorce with a big increase in court fees, and many are facing up to the challenge of asset-sharing and high property prices by turning to novel solutions to deal with the change. One of the new approaches to parenting after divorce is what’s being called the bird’s nest approach, a shared custody arrangement where the children stay at home and parents move around them, as depicted recently by TV programmes The Affair and Transparent. The emphasis in bird’s nesting is on parents…

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