Family Law encompasses legal matters related to marriage, children and inheritance as well as cohabitation agreements (similar to prenuptial agreements) and providing advice to families experiencing domestic abuse.
The government will expand a pilot scheme to enhance support for victims of domestic abuse and their children as well as enhance how family courts assess cases involving separated couples, in order to reduce conflict in courtrooms and enable more families to avoid unnecessary litigation.
Divorce
Once upon a time, in order to obtain a divorce or dissolution one party had to satisfy the court that their marriage had irretrievably disintegrated. With no fault divorce being implemented now all couples can find themselves on an even playing field.
This new law recognizes both applicants for divorce as joint petitioners, and removes the requirement to rely on one or more of five factors such as adultery, unreasonable behaviour, two years separation or desertion; instead, petitions must assert that their marriage has irretrievably broken down.
Beyond these changes, the new process aims to decrease delays at Family Court as well as encourage more people to opt for alternative forms of dispute resolution such as mediation or collaborative law. This can assist couples to part ways amicably while making child custody arrangements more straightforward as well as helping with finances settlement.
Separation
Legal separation allows couples to live separately without officially ending their marriage or civil partnership, yet does not preclude applying for divorce in the future.
Courts may still make financial orders during legal separation (also referred to as judicial separation). To ensure you obtain optimal results, full and honest disclosure of assets should take place.
Family Law solicitors can assist in creating legally binding separation agreements or financial court orders during divorce proceedings. You may also find it helpful to agree a financial settlement prior to parting ways, which will later become part of your divorce settlement agreement. With government’s reforms of divorce procedures more families have avoided lengthy and contentious courtroom battles – with an innovative pilot scheme set to further improve it by offering early legal advice and using mediation more frequently.
Child arrangements
Children arrangements refers to the legal rights and responsibilities of parents, including time sharing between each parent (for instance 2-2-3), whether one parent has parental responsibility and how children can be reached (such as through phone calls, texting or direct social media interaction). A child arrangements order will only be issued if it is considered best for the child.
Courts take several factors into consideration when awarding custody arrangements to either parent, including their welfare and feelings, any abuse or neglect cases and whether full or joint custody will be decided on.
If you are considering applying for a child arrangements order, it is vital that you consult an expert family law and children solicitor as early as possible. They will advise whether mediation would be an appropriate approach prior to going directly to court.
Financial settlements
Financial settlements involve decisions regarding the division of assets between partners who are divorced or separated, such as property sales and distribution of investments, pensions and savings accounts. Ideally, courts attempt to uphold both partners’ standard of living during marriage; however this may prove challenging if one partner made career sacrifices to care for children.
Family law encompasses cohabitation agreements (similar to prenuptial agreements) and child maintenance payments, as well as issues regarding parental rights and responsibilities for children, such as orders issued under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 or special guardianship orders.
Of all family law cases that make their way through courts, many involve divorce. With improvements such as enhanced DBS checks for family lawyers and an expanded mediation voucher scheme in place, more families should be able to resolve their differences outside the courts. Plans also call for improving information sharing between agencies as well as making it simpler for alleged victims of abuse to get legal aid.