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You may have heard that within divorce proceedings a lump sum can be awarded to one party payable by the other as part of a financial settlement, usually to ‘buy out’ one parties’ interest in the former family home. You may have not...
Following a Final Order made in divorce financial remedy proceedings, a lump sum may have been ordered to be paid by one party to other as the best way to divide up the assets to conclude the proceedings. However, what happens if the party ordered to...
Parental responsibility (PR) is the concept of the legal and practical duties in relation to children in their minority (and their property) in your care. This manifests in ways such as the child’s education, residence, name, religion, medical...
You may have heard that MIAMs and Mediation are not the same thing but are confused as to the difference between the two. MIAM stands for Mediation Information and Mediation Assessment Meeting. The clue is in the name! This meeting assesses whether mediation...
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service is currently plagued with backlogs and waiting times. Often, parties are experiencing waiting times on average of up to 16 weeks for an FDA (the first hearing in financial cases) following issue of financial...
When a party applies to the Court for a child arrangements order they do so on a form known as a C100. Where that party has concerns about harm, or risk of harm, they will also need to complete and file a form C1A. A C1A allows a party to raise concerns...
A form C100 relates to the arrangements for a child/ children. A party can use this form to apply for the following orders: A child arrangements order; to decide where a child lives and to confirm who they spend time with or otherwise have contact with; ...
Coercive control is defined by Women’s Aid as “an act or a pattern of acts, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish or frighten their victim”. Domestic abuse is not always physical abuse. Coercive...
A married couple have financial claims against each other in respect of income, pensions and capital. Those financial claims do not automatically come to an end even once a divorce is completed. This can leave the possibility of one former spouse making a...
You can now apply for a divorce online or by post either as a sole application or as a joint application. Once you have completed the divorce application, a copy of the application and an Acknowledgement of Service form, will be sent to your spouse. ...
No, to take your child on holiday abroad, you have to get the permission of everyone with parental responsibility for a child. If the other person/parties with parental responsibility do not give their permission, you may need to apply to the court for...
The first question for the court to determine is whether the debts are legitimate, and this is a question of fact. Sometimes ‘soft loans’ from family members may not be considered as repayable and some may even be sham arrangements to deplete...
Cases like this can be very challenging as the family court will look to meet the needs of the parties and any dependants, but the bankruptcy court’s duty is to the bankrupt person’s creditors. Much depends here on timing specifically the...
In the recent case of AH v BH [2024] EWFC 125 Mr Justice Peel had to consider the terms of a pre-nuptial agreement where the assets were around £50m and almost all of the assets were held in the husband’s sole name. If the pre-nuptial agreement...
The court has the power to appoint a Guardian in court proceedings regarding children. This is often called ‘a Rule 16.4 Appointment.’ The Guardian is usually employed by Cafcass, but this is not always the case. There is...
The Pathfinder scheme launched in Birmingham on 28 May 2024 and with it came a fundamental change to Cafcass’ investigative and reporting role within private children law proceedings. Before Pathfinder, Cafcass would often prepare two reports –...
On 28 May 2024, a reformed approach to private children law launched in Birmingham, called Pathfinder. This scheme has previously been piloted in Dorset and North Wales and has now been expanded to Birmingham. This means that all proceedings started after...
When the parties to a divorce exchange financial information through statements known as Forms E there is a question that asks for an overview of the financial position of new partners if you are living together or intend to. You are asked to provide...
Following a divorce, the court has a variety of different powers to divide the couple’s finances and assets. Usually a financial order would be in ‘full and final settlement’ of all claims and there would be very limit circumstances...
The short answer is no. No one should force you into pursuing a settlement that you are not comfortable with. If you want to take less than you have been advised you are entitled to this is your decision to make. You can however expect your...