BLOG - Family Law

• When is a marriage not a marriage, and when may it look like one?

  

  22 Jul, 2024 Posted By: Erica Newman-Berry

  Did you know that there is no such thing as a common law marriage in England and Wales? Contrary to popular belief, unless you are legally married or have a registered legal partnership, there are no automatic  legal rights  or obligations to each other, including the division of financial assets if you separate or if one of you dies, this... read more.
  Tags: Children , Cohabitation , Collaborative Family Law

• No Fault Divorce from April 2022

  

  08 Jun, 2021 Posted By: M. Taylor

  The government has now confirmed that the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act, which we’ve written about previously  will come into effect in April 2022.   Currently, when a couple want to get divorced, it’s necessary to give a reason, in the divorce petition, as to why the marriage has broken down, and expect where... read more.
  Tags: Civil Partnerships , Family Law , Divorce

• Child Arrangements during Lockdown

  

  07 Jan, 2021 Posted By: Abigail Whelan

  Following the government announcement on Monday the 4th January 2021 of a further National Lockdown, you may be wondering what this means for your children and contact with a non-resident parent. Whilst there is a “stay at home” message in place, this does not prevent children under the age of 18 from moving between households for contact... read more.
  Tags: COVID-19 , Family Law , Collaborative Family Law

• Legal Update: Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill

  

  23 Jun, 2020 Posted By: Abigail Whelan

  You may have seen our previous blogs on the topic of the proposed divorce law reforms.  If you haven’t, you can find them here: - The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation bill  (posted on 3rd February 2020) Reducing Conflict on Divorce  (posted on 25th July 2019) As you may be aware, under the present law, unless... read more.
  Tags: Collaborative Family Law , Family , Family Law

• What does COVID-19 mean for child contact arrangements?

  

  01 Apr, 2020 Posted By: Abigail Whelan

  We have all seen the government advice about staying home, unless we need to leave the house for specific reasons, such as picking up “essential items” from the shop. But what does this mean for those who are separated parents, with children that spend time between houses? Sir Andrew McFarlane, who is the most senior Judge in the Family... read more.
  Tags: Children , COVID-19 , Family Law

• The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill

  

  03 Feb, 2020 Posted By: M. Taylor

  As you may have seen from the news, the government is making changes to the law relating to divorces and dissolution of civil partnerships. The  proposed new law has its second reading in the House of Lords this week, although no firm date has been set for the law to come into effect, once it is passed. The changes are intended to remove... read more.
  Tags: Civil Partnerships , Divorce , Family

• The Common Law Marriage Myth

  

  06 Dec, 2019 Posted By: Abigail Whelan

  Many people belive that if you have been living together for long enough, you start to have rights as if you were married. We took a look at some of the more common questions asked about this situation.  “I’ve been living with my partner for many years. Does that make them my common law spouse?” The short answer is... read more.
  Tags: Cohabitation , Family Law , Separation

• Reducing conflict on Divorce

  

  25 Jul, 2019 Posted By: Abigail Whelan

  Currently, in England and Wales every divorce is based on the fact that a marriage has broken down irretrievably. You must then give one of the following five reasons why that is the case - Your partner has committed adultery and you find it intolerable to live with them; Your partner has behaved in such a way that you cannot reasonably be... read more.
  Tags: Divorce , Family Law , Separation

• Proposed Law Reform for Divorce

  

  01 Oct, 2018 Posted By: Marion Fisher

  A controversial ruling by the UK Supreme Court that a woman must remain in an unhappy marriage until 2020 has prompted calls for divorce law to be reformed, to allow for “no fault divorces” in the UK. The case of Mr and Mrs Owens has highlighted the extent to which the UK divorce law differs significantly from many other countries. Under... read more.
  Tags: Family , Family Law , Divorce

• Briers and Briers - another cautionary tale for divorcing couples.

  

  22 Jan, 2018 Posted By: Marion Fisher

  You may recall our blog in 2016 about  the case of Wyatt and Vince.  Even for those of us who have been practising family law for many years, this case was unusual and it brought home the importance of divorcing couples having a court sealed financial agreement, even if at the time of the divorce neither party had any real assets. Yet... read more.
  Tags: Family , Family Law , Cohabitation

• Archer v Titchener. What would really happen

  

  20 Dec, 2016 Posted By: M. Taylor

  Regular listeners to ‘The Archers’ will know that Rob and Helen Titchener were back in court recently, this time to deal with the issue of Rob’s contact with his son, Jack, and that Henry, Helen’s son, and Rob’s step-son, should return to live with his mother. Rob is to have supervised contact with Jack once a month,... read more.
  Tags: Children , Divorce , Domestic Abuse

• Wyatt and Vance, A Cautionary Tale for Divorcing Couples

  

  14 Jun, 2016 Posted By: M. Taylor

  Dale Vince and Kathleen Wyatt married in 1981, separated in 1984 and divorced in 1992.   At the time of the divorce, neither of them had much money, and it appears that no finacial order was made then.   Mr Vince went on to found his own extremely successful Green Energy business and became a multi-millionaire, his company being estimated... read more.
  Tags: Family Law , Divorce , Financial Settlement

• Court Fee Rise for Divorces

  

  17 Mar, 2016 Posted By: M. Taylor

  Following on from the news that the government is proposing massive increases in the fees charges by the Court to grant probate, an announcement was made today that, effective Monday 21st March, the fees payable to the court to issue a divorce petition will rise 34% from £410 to £550. Marjorie Taylor,  FDC's head of Family Law,... read more.
  Tags: Divorce , Family Law

• Domestic Abuse doesn't only happen in the Archers

  

  14 Mar, 2016 Posted By: M. Taylor

  If you are a regular listener to Radio 4's’s long running soap, The Archers,   you’ll know that a current story line deals with the issue of domestic abuse within the Titchener family. Rob Titchener is not physically violent to his pregnant wife, Helen; his abusive behaviour involves controlling her movements, isolating her from... read more.
  Tags: Family Law , Children , Family

• What Becomes of the Broken Hearted

  

  11 Feb, 2016 Posted By: M. Taylor

  At this time of year, there are hearts and flowers everywhere, as people prepare for Valentine’s Day. Many couples will be celebrating, and it is a popular date to pop the question and form an engagement. Thinking about what could go wrong, or what might happen if a relationship goes wrong doesn’t feel very romantic, but it can save... read more.
  Tags: Family , Family Law , Disputes

• Flawed Court Website. Was your divorce settlement affected?

  

  18 Dec, 2015 Posted By: M. Taylor

  News has broken today that the  Form E financial Statement for use within financial proceedings in divorce and dissolution cases,  available on the Government’s website, had a software fault which resulted in the addition and subtraction feature giving incorrect answers. This has raised fears that people  who used Government’s... read more.
  Tags: Divorce , Family Law , Financial Settlement

• Putting Your Children First

  

  23 Nov, 2015 Posted By: M. Taylor

  Separation or divorce are always difficult, particularly where there are children involved, however, there are steps you can take to try to limit the damage.   Resolving issues around children or finances doesn’t have to mean having a huge fight through the courts.   There are other options: Alternative Dispute resolution... read more.
  Tags: Children , Family Law , Collaborative Family Law

• Cohabitation: Know Where You Stand

  

  09 Nov, 2015 Posted By: M. Taylor

  The office for National Statistics has recently published new data about the makeup of  families and households across the UK.   The figures show that although households consisting of a couples who are married or in a civil partnerships still make up the single biggest family type, with some 12.5 million families meeting this description,... read more.
  Tags: Children , Family Law

• Is your divorce Pension Order safe?

  

  19 Jun, 2015 Posted By: M. Taylor

  Changes to Pension Law may put some divorced people at risk of losing out The rules relating to pensions have recently changed, allowing people ‘Pension Freedom’, to withdraw funds rather than buying an annuity, on retirement. However, this could cause problems for divorced spouses who obtained a Pension Earmarking Order  in... read more.
  Tags: Family Law , Divorce