The UK is in its third national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and families of separated parents remain uncertain about whether their children are allowed to move between households during this time, if changes need to be made to the terms of any existing child arrangements orders, and what the latest guidance is surrounding… Read more »
Viewers of Channel 4’s Hollyoaks will have seen their current portrayal of coercive control with characters John Paul and PC George Kiss. Very much representative of how coercive control works, we have seen confident and well-loved character John Paul slowly become isolated from his family and manipulated by George, blaming himself for problems within their… Read more »
During divorce proceedings, the court will divide marital assets, such as property acquired during the marriage, equally between both parties to reach a financial settlement. However, should the marital assets not be sufficient for the needs of both parties, the court may consider non-marital assets such as inheritance. So, what do you need to know… Read more »
As part of the divorce process, parties will often be asked to complete a ‘Form E’ setting out their financial position and confirming any special circumstances that they believe should be considered. When deciding how the assets of the marriage should be divided, people often question whether bad behaviour should be taken into account, but… Read more »
The Office for National Statistics recently revealed that same sex female couples are more than twice as likely to divorce than same sex male couples. There is no clear explanation as to why this is the case but some commentators such as Natalie Drew, founder of Britain’s first fertility clinic, expressed her views to a… Read more »
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that divorce cases are on the rise as the number of divorces filed in 2019 saw an increase of 18.4% from the preceding year, the largest annual percentage increase in the number of divorces since 1972. It is presumable that this increase could be accounted for by the… Read more »
Cheryl Haywood, Family Associate, answers some of the most frequently asked questions regarding Child Arrangement Orders. What Is a Child Arrangements Order? A child arrangements order is an order of the court setting out who a child shall live with and spend time with. For example, where two parents have separated and there are disagreements… Read more »
Nuptial agreements refer to either pre-nuptial agreements (entered into before marriage) or post-nuptial agreements (entered into after marriage). At present, nuptial agreements are not legally binding. This means that if an agreement is entered into and the relationship breaks down, the court has discretion and can move away from the terms of the agreement if… Read more »
As family lawyers, despite the common misconception, we will always encourage separating parties to utilise private discussions and mediation at an early stage to try to reach a settlement outside of the court process. This avoids a lengthy and expensive dispute and helps to keep things as amicable as possible. If you have managed to… Read more »
The term ‘clean break’ is one that we use frequently in family law, but what does it actually mean and would it be appropriate in your particular circumstances? A clean break essentially means that separating parties walk away from the marriage with no financial obligation towards the other. This means that you would no longer… Read more »
