No-fault divorce surge but challenges remain
No-fault divorce saw an initial surge in demand when it came into effect, but couples continue to face challenges in managing finances and certainty regarding the process.
Recently divorced? Legal matters to consider before moving on
Recently divorced? Here are a few legal matters you should consider before moving into the next chapter of your life.
No-fault divorce – Working it out when things go wrong
No-fault divorce comes into effect in April 2022. The aim is to reduce cases reaching family courts and the stress on divorcing couples by minimising blame and by encouraging best outcomes through good communication and supported discussions.
Divorcing your business partner
Divorcing your partner is never easy, but what happens when you run a business together? You will need specialist legal advice. Read more here.
Avoid family conflict at Christmas – focus on family wellbeing
Avoiding conflict at Christmas is always a challenge, and with COVID-19 restrictions likely to get worse before they get better, the pandemic may continue to put relationships under pressure.
A toolkit for family breakdown in the lockdown
The coronavirus crisis is redefining lifestyles and the boundaries of our interactions; a situation that can challenge even the strongest bonds. For couples who are struggling in their relationship, or trying to manage co-parenting, anxiety levels are likely to be heightened if it seems there is nowhere to turn, while personal movements are restricted and even the family courts are working remotely. "For myself, and my colleagues across the country, being a family lawyer means being there for all the challenges, not just the day in court, and at this…
When the end of summer spells the end of marriage
September is traditionally a time of new beginnings, with children off to school or university and parents back to work, but for many couples, the end of summer can spell the end of marriage. Lawyers often talk about ‘divorce day’ in January and report a similar surge when summer holidays are over, and research1 looking at the timing of divorce petitions bears this out, with peaks after the summer and winter holidays. The researchers suggest that while troubled couples may view holidays as a time to stand together for children…
Your rights as a step-parent after a divorce
If you’re a recently divorced step-parent and are wondering what rights you have in regard to seeing your step-children, there’s a number of things you need to know. Here, we take a look at what happens after a divorce, what measures a step-parent can take in order to gain access to a step-child, and whether there any financial obligations that needs to be met. A legal definition of a 'step-parent' In order to work out what legal rights and responsibilities are shouldered by step-parents after a divorce, we first need…
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…
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…