Family Law Blog

It’s that time again: Christmas is firmly behind us, it’s a New Year with a fresh start and how many of us have already broken new diet regimes with leftover chocolate or fallen off the proverbial wagon of any number of resolutions we made when Big Ben chimed us in…

Engaged couples should be having a provocative bedtime chat before they walk down the aisle – about getting a prenup! I must admit I giggled when a colleague commented at the Woolley & Co Annual Conference in May that couples didn’t talk about legal issues before they get married because…

In light of the recent so called Turing pardons I wonder whether the Government will look again at another arcane element of our legal system, divorce law? I read with delight that the Government has announced there shall be pardons, including posthumously, for conviction over consensual same-sex relationships before homosexuality…

The current State Pension changes from 6 April 2016 and there will no longer be a basic state pension with additional state pension (ASP) elements, but one single tier flat rate pension payable to a person with 35 years of national insurance contributions. Pensionable ages remain as before (subject to…

Grandparents usually have a positive influential role to play in the lives of their grandchildren, teaching them things their parents can’t from the generation before, helping children understand the dynamics of their family history, as well as the fun stuff of baking or playing with train sets. Sadly, where there…

Co-parenting seems to be one of those latest buzz word that is pretty irrelevant to most couples – until that is they separate or divorce. Once a family is divided, by the fact that the two parents live apart, co-parenting takes on a whole new dimension and create so many…

As a family law solicitor I am often in the unfortunate position of having to tell people who’ve lived together for many years that they could be made homeless by their partner and have no opportunity to claim any share of what they have considered to be the family home….

Is it possible for divorce lawyers to give gender neutral legal advice? Or are we ‘sexist’ because we often deal with clearly defined roles within a marriage? I was asked recently whether I favour male or female clients. I thought back over the clients I have helped over the years…

It's a fantastic victory for equality that gay couples now have the right to choose whether to enter a civil partnership or a marriage. And that’s absolutely how it should be. Shame the same can't be said for heterosexual couples. Couples can live together as cohabitees, although the law offers…

When it comes to divorce settlement hearings the role of the judge might come as a surprise to some. Their job, first and foremost, is to help people reach an agreement. Only if the parties are intransigent will they actually make a judgement. This was brought home when I recently…

In this day and age we may think that the stigma of getting a divorce is long gone, for many it is still there and we need to do something about that. The general view these days seems to be that divorce is socially acceptable. Whereas just a generation ago,…

I spend a lot of time talking with couples who have chosen not to marry. This can be through preparing documents to regulate their ownership of a property when they have made unequal investments, or when they want to protect their respective interests. It can also be when they are…