Family & Divorce/Matrimonial

Family or relationship breakdown can be one of the most stressful and emotional periods you experience. We are experienced at dealing with a wide variety of family law matters in a sensitive, understanding and constructive way. We have experience in dealing with divorce, separation, children disputes, financial disputes, cohabitation breakdown, pre-nuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements and separation agreements. We regularly act for clients with business interests and in all cases we pride ourselves on taking a sympathetic but frank and proactive approach to obtain the very best solutions for clients. With a track record of cases ranging from the simple and straightforward to the difficult and complex we have acted for clients from overseas as well as from in the UK and in cases with international elements.

Divorce

All divorces must be based on one or more of the following:

• Adultery
• Unreasonable Behaviour
• Desertion
• 2 years separation with consent
• 5 years separation

Each of these can give rise to particular issues to consider and we have the skill and experience to advise in detail in relation to each one.

Finance

Having a divorce gives rise to possible financial claims by either party against the other. The actual divorce itself does not deal with financial matters. A separate court order is needed for this. The only way to achieve a legally binding and enforceable financial settlement is to have a court order which sets out the settlement terms.

The court has the power to make various financial orders, such as lump sum, maintenance, property adjustment, pension sharing and attachment orders. And there are a number of factors to be taken into account when considering what a fair settlement would be, such as: the welfare of any child under 18, the length of the marriage, the ages of the parties, the financial circumstances of the parties and of any child, the financial needs of the parties and of any child, the contributions of each party, the standard of living enjoyed before the breakdown, any disability of either party and of any child, the conduct of each of the parties and the value of any lost benefit to either party.

We can advise you as to what a fair settlement would be in your case, and whether a clean break is appropriate.

Cohabitation Breakdown

The law in relation to cohabitation breakdown is not the same as for marriage breakdown. Contrary to popular belief there is no such thing as a ‘common law’ husband or wife. Unmarried couples have relatively few rights in relation to each other’s wealth irrespective of how long they have lived together. Many unmarried couples seem to think that there is a threshold period of time (such as 6 months or 2 years) beyond which they have the same or similar rights to married couples on divorce, but that just simply isn’t the case. Unmarried couples who split up don’t have any automatic legal rights against each other. They have no right to claim financial support for themselves and they have no right to claim a share of pensions.

The starting point in any dispute regarding the ‘family home’ will be to look at how the property is legally owned. If it is owned in the sole name of one party it may be difficult for the other to establish a claim on the property no matter how long that property has been their home. If the property is owned in joint names then of course both are entitled to a share. Any dispute regarding the family home can involve complex trust and land law principles and so it’s best if couples can clearly agree these issues before they start living together. We can advise in relation to this.