What is a Legal Services Payment Order? A Legal Services Payment Order (LSPO) is an order whereby one party is ordered to pay to the other party a sum of money to enable them to obtain legal services. For example, a working husband may be ordered to pay his non-working wife a sum of
With Family Mediation Week due to take place between 23-27 January 2017, we explain some key points about Family Mediation and how the process works. Family Mediation – What is it? Family Mediation is designed to assist divorcing or separating couples reach an agreement in relation to financial and/or children matters that arise as a
The divorce rate has fallen to its lowest level since 1975, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. Just over 130,000 couples divorced in the UK in 2013, the latest figures available. That’s a fall of 3% on the previous year. The number of divorces fell to 9.8 per thousand married
January is the time for making resolutions to give ourselves a fresh start for the New Year. It’s good to take stock and decide to eat less or exercise more but there’s so much more we could be doing to improve our lives and protect ourselves for the future. Here are three New Year Resolutions
A “Deed of Separation” is a written document used to set out the arrangements between a divorcing or separating couple. It is tailor made to each individual couple and details future arrangements in relation to issues such as finance and property, and child arrangements. For example, it may record that following a couples separation or
The breakdown of a marriage can be a difficult and stressful time for separating couples and the thought of going to Court to deal with their divorce can be a daunting prospect. Whilst some couples do end up litigating their case within the Court arena, this is not the case for the majority of couples,
The Central London County Court handed down its judgement in the case of Thomas and Powell, a case which concerned a dispute between cohabitants about ownership of the former family home following their separation. Case Summary Up until their separation in 2014, Miss Thomas and Mr Powell lived together at a property in Wandsworth Common.
A mother has lost her appeal against a court ruling that her son should live with his father. The case involved a couple who had separated on bad terms having had four children together. The older three children lived with the mother and the fourth child, who was five, lived with the father. The judge
Leading family lawyers are calling on the government to provide new legislation to protect the rights of cohabiting couples. The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that there were 3.3 million cohabiting couple families in the UK in 2017, more than double the number recorded in 1996. They are now the fastest
A mother has won the right to keep her son in the UK after the father took legal action to take him to Australia. The case involved a couple who met and formed a long distance relationship in 2011. They had a son together but separated soon afterwards. She continued to live in England with