Family Legal Services

Most family legal services is about access to children or money. You can get help with marriage, civil partnerships, divorce & dissolution, access, wardship, adoption and financial provision. We also handle emergency work such as domestic violence and abduction.

When a family and home is split there is usually less money to go around. There are two homes to run on the same money. The children still need looking after but you can both feel pressure to work. So often we also need to help with debt, welfare and housing.

We never forget, solicitors are trained to be solicitors, but nobody trains you to be a parent or partner. Our job is to be the one person you can trust while you gradually get your peace of mind back.

Marriage

You can usually marry over 18 or 16 with consent.

As pre nuptial agreements are influential although not binding it may be worth having us draft one, especially if you are bringing most of the wealth to the marriage and do not yet have children.

If an engagement is broken off the woman can usually keep the ring. You can ask the court to allocate property between you.

Forced marriage

If you suspect you will be abducted for a forced marriage we can use the Forced Marriage Act 2008 to lock up dangerous relatives, the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 to apply for a Forced Marriage Protection Order to arrest wrongdoers, the Family Law Act 1996 s42 to apply for a non-molestation orders backed up by threat of imprisonment and likewise the Protection From Harassment Act 1997. We may also need to apply to block your spouse’s visa.

Realistically, legal remedies may have to be combined with an escape strategy. This will typically include a “go bag” with essentials to keep at a friend’s house, police looking after your documents and helping you retrieve possessions, a secret bank account, a new untraceable mobile and a move far away that relatives will not have contacts they can bribe for your whereabouts. We will agree a codeword and will not allow “friends” to accompany you as we will automatically assume you are under duress.

Do not underestimate how seriously government takes forced marriage. The multi agency arrangements are similar to the FBI witness protection programme. There are worldwide arrangements for safehouses and spiriting you out of the country with a duplicate passport, and in the UK every relevant agency knows what to do as soon as you walk in the door. We can help you prove a change of name by deed poll and the police can change your national insurance number so you can get a new passport and identity.

You might get help with benefits, education, health and child protection.

Civil partnership

This is as close as the law gets to gay marriage. Immigrants need entry clearance.

Like a pre-nup you can draft up an influential but non binding pre registration agreement.

Separation (anytime) or dissolution (after one year) needs the court to deal with any children first. You cannot evict each other regardless of who is the tenant.

Living together

If you are not married or civil partners you can sign a cohabitation agreement to address the same issues such as children and property. Without being married or civil partners if one of you dies the other will have trouble getting hold of the deceased bank account and may not be entitled to any inheritance, so a will is sensible. You may be left with an inheritance tax bill by not having the married couple’s exemption. If you split up and one of you owns your home the other may be able to claim a right to stay with children or a share of the capital.

Splitting up

Even if not married, you may still need us to sort out your children, housing, possessions and money using tools such as a separation agreement dealing with issues such as who lives where and who keeps what. We can help notify authorities of your new status and address and implement financial support. Children’s future in terms of residence, contact and responsibility is best sorted by agreement, failing which there is mediation (private or through the court using social workers) and court. Unmarried fathers at the time of birth need the mother or court’s permission to get parental responsibility. Financial support may be handled by the CSA if not agreed by you or decided by court. Housing issues include staying put or finding someone new, keeping your ex out, letting yourself in to get your stuff. If your place was owner occupied you might be able to claim a share and there may be a mortgage to sort out. If you are a tenant you may need to stop your ex terminating the tenancy or leaving you lumbered with their arrears. If your partner was the tenant you might be able to get a tenancy in your name. Although you do not have to support each other you have to support any children, either voluntarily or through the CSA or court.

Divorce

First you might consider informal separation or a separation agreement to regulate access to children, money and each other. Some religions may prefer to leave the marriage existent but get a judicial separation that allows you to go your separate ways.

The cheapest bill is for an undefended petitioner, which means simple paperwork in County Court. The dearest bill is for a defended respondent, which means barristers and High Court. It tends to make sense to make the first move or accept reality if you receive a petition, so as to maximum the pot left between you after paying fees.

The grounds are the various ways of showing irretrievable breakdown: absence for 5 years, absence for 2 years and consent, adultery within the last 6 months or unreasonable behaviour. Desertion may be unreasonable behaviour so it does not always take 2-5 years of separation to force a divorce.

Legal aid may be available in the form of advice for undefended cases and representation when cases become defended.

One first step may for us to register your interest in an owned home at the land registry or get an occupation order to keep you in your spouse’s home. You have the right to make mortgage payments on the mortagor’s behalf.

Domestic violence

This is relationship abuse such as by lovers, carers or relatives, whether you are straight or gay, young or old.

There is only one person to blame – the abuser, and abuse is everywhere, even a high court judge has been convicted. We guide you through whether to report to the police, where to take refuge and how to proceed with housing and any legal action. You might find you do not want to say much at the first meeting as you are in a difficult and frightening situation – that is fine, we can help you in stages as you gradually realise how strong you are. You may be surprised how much help you can get from us, charities and the full force of the state coming to back you up. For example, police can lock up an alleged abuser for 24 hours and take you somewhere safe without you even making a statement. If you are worried about your immigration status, domestic violence is a ground to apply for indefinite leave. You would however have to weigh up funding sources such as council grants and charities if you are about to cut yourself off from the family that supported you if you are banned from “recourse to public funds”.

You might also be pleased to learn that legal aid is automatic for a strong domestic violence case.

Somebody, initially probably you, will probably need to move home and you may qualify as homeless for council bed & breakfast as an emergency solution, but may prefer a refuge as an alternative temporary solution where you get lots of backup, or may have already had time to arrange deposit and references for a private sector tenancy. Refuges are not just for women and their children – some take children on their own who need to get out of a dangerous home. You may need us to persuade the council that you are homeless as they may try to fob you off with an injunction which will not be much use while a man twice your size is kicking the door in.

If you are not ready to move out and have bricks internal walls some councils offer a Sanctuary project whereby on police advice they give you fire safety equipment such as a smoke detector, breakglass hammer and and escape ladder, plus physical security. At a minimum you get new locks but we would argue for the standard option of a safe room which means an outward opening fire door with bolts both sides, or the upgrade to stronger doors front and back too with reinforcing bars. We can also ask for a burglar alarm, letterbox blocker, cameras and lighting. If you have stud walls we might be able to argue for metal reinforcement but the council might rather pay for a B&B.

You may need us to protect your interests in terms of children, benefits, possessions, your old accommodation and injunctions. If you have children bear in mind that about half of men who abuse women have also been abusing the children, so act now.

Childcare

Whatever your relationship, you may be able to apply for a contact order, residence order or parental responsibility.

Child maintenance

You can make a “family agreement”, which can be turned into a consent order by the court. Otherwise you would use the CSA or court, but CSA is more for spouses who have disappeared or will not cooperate and you have to accept the CSA’s figure, and court can run up a lost of costs.

For example, if a father gets the two children for the weekend, takes home £300 a week and has two other children living with him, the CSA would try to make him pay £41 a week. Even without the other two children it would be £51. If he also never has the children he would pay £60. If he was a “deadbeat dad” on benefit he would pay £5.

Grandparents

You have no automatic right of contact but we can apply for a contact order under Childrens Act 1989 s8. If you have been bringing them up for 3 years you can apply for a residence order.

Adoption

You are not entitled to discover your birth parents until 18. Adoptive parents can be gay or straight, living together, civil partners or spouses, but single men are not preferred.

Care

A child can only be taken into care by a court order requested by the council or at the request of parents. The council should look first at parents, those with parental responsibility and those with a residence order. Failing that it should look at friends and relatives, who might also want to become the foster parents. The last resort is fostering or a childrens home. Social services are supposed to leave a care order as a last resort in itself, and try to solve problems at home with tools such as a contact order, residence order or supervision order. You will all agree a care plan, and after 3 months between age 14 and 17 the child will get a personal adviser who drafts a Pathway Plan. Council care must be reviewed after 4 weeks, 3 months and then every 6 months. Although complaints are often made to councils and the Local Government Ombudsman, there are also claims for negligence because the child has been let down.

Children in need

Rather than children at risk, these are children who need help with health or development. Councils have to provide help with care and education. This can also be a first step to avoid taking a child into care. One option is for the council to “accommodate” a child whose parent is unable to cope, without taking over parental responsibility.