Family Law Blog : May 2017

When a couple separate whether one party is entitled to claim spousal maintenance from the other is a common concern. There are several factors that need to be considered:

• Length of marriage
• Whether each party is working
• The age of the parties
• Who is looking after any children of the marriage
• Can both parties manage financially without spousal maintenance?

It’s important to understand that spousal maintenance is just that, financial support from one spouse to another paid on the breakdown of a marriage. It does not apply to unmarried couples and is different to child maintenance.

The breakdown of a relationship or marriage is not easy for anyone to deal with. Emotions run high and confusion sometimes reigns. Before rushing to take action, it is important to remember you need time to come to terms with what is happening and you should not take major steps for example, putting the house on the market until you are both calm and in the right frame of mind to discuss such matters.

What connects these four statements: To Kill A Mockingbird; I wanted to help people; on a whim; and LA Law? They are all responses from Woolley & Co family lawyers to the question: What made you want to work in the legal profession?

As a family law solicitor, I often say that ‘nothing surprises me’. But with the advent of new technologies and the proliferation of social media I find myself amazed by some of the things I read about in Family Law case notes and some of the incidents experienced by my clients.

Understanding the divorce process and what steps need to be taken is something people hope they will never have to think about but when they do it can cause anxiety and confusion. Where do I start? That’s often the first thought that goes through the mind of someone considering divorce.