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Family

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…

Legal Aid evidence criteria – successful Court challenge

The charity Rights of Women was recently successful in the Court of Appeal in challenging certain aspects of the evidential requirements of domestic abuse in relation to legal aid applications. The evidential requirements of domestic abuse to enable a person to qualify for legal aid (with exceptions) are contained in Regulation 33 of the Civil Legal Aid (Procedure) Regulations 2012. The Court of Appeal declared that Regulation 33 is invalid in so far as it:- Required verifications of domestic violence to be given within a 24 month period before any…

When to unravel the web of deceit in divorce

Unhappy ex-spouses hoping to get their divorce settlements reviewed following a landmark judgment are being urged to check their facts first. It was predicted that the Supreme Court rulings in the cases of Alison Sharland and Varsha Gohil would open the floodgates to thousands of couples wanting to revisit agreements made under a financial consent order, where one party had deliberately concealed their true financial worth during divorce proceedings. In both cases - Sharland v Sharland and Gohil v Gohil - the Supreme Court gave the former wives the right…

No fault divorces

On 13 October 2015, Richard Bacon MP introduced a Bill to Parliament proposing an amendment to family law which could enable couples to say that there was no fault for the break up and to apply for a "no fault divorce". This would involve both parties making a separate declaration that the marriage or civil partnership had “irretrievably broken down” which is the ground that needs to be satisfied to enable a person to be able to petition for divorce. The other requirement being that the parties have to have…

Cohabitation – protecting your interests

In a recent report by the Office of National Statistics, the number of cohabiting couples was shown to have increased significantly in the 10 years to 2013 and the number of couples opting to live together without getting married or entering into a civil partnership is only likely to increase over time. A common misconception is that there exists the legal principle of “common law” husband and wife which affords cohabiting couples similar rights to those of married couples. Unfortunately the reality is that no such legal principle exists and…

Impending changes to the divorce process

The way divorce petitions are processed is changing, following a consultation by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS). There will now be designated divorce centres which will be the only points of entry across the single family court for the issuing of divorce petitions and financial remedy applications. All divorce petitions will be sent by post to one of the centres unless there is an urgent reason to seek to issue at the counter. The application process will remain unchanged but all uncontested petitions will be prepared and made…

Child Maintenance – A system for the better?

A new Child Maintenance system came into force on 30 june 2014 according to a Press Release from the Department of Work and Pensions of the same date. The Child Support Agency (CSA) will be closing its cases over the next 3 years and those parties will have the option of agreeing maintenance between themselves or using the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). There will also be a new fees for those parties wishing to use the CMS as follows: A one-off application fee of £20.00. This fee is not payable…

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