Read our latest articles, news briefs and legal updates across all our different services.
Q – I have recently read that there is going to be a legal presumption of shared care. What does this mean? A – This is a proposal only and is at the moment the subject of some debate. It has been a system used inAustraliain relation to children in broken relationships through divorce or
Q I am considering a divorce. What are the grounds for me to be able to do so? A In every case, a person has to prove that their marriage has irretrievably broken down through one of five facts. These are that their spouse has behaved unreasonably or committed adultery; that they have lived apart
Q My partner is violent to me. He doesn’t like it when I answer back, sometimes he has too much to drink and I’m really afraid of him. What can I do? A – First of all if he assaults you or puts you in fear you should call the Police. If a criminal
Q I am thinking of leaving my partner. We have children and finances that we need to sort out. Do we have to end up in a court? A – No. There are various options including trying to resolve things between yourselves amicably, Mediation, Collaborative law and traditional negotiation involving solicitors. Q – I’m
Q – I’m getting we might have to go to court to sort out the financial side of things. Is it complicated? A – Either party can issue proceedings as soon as the Court sends out a divorce petition and even after Decree Absolute, but not once you have remarried; you may then lose
Q – My partner has left me and taken the children. I’ve heard about Parental Responsibility. What’s that? A – Parental Responsibility (or “”PR””) is defined by the Children Act as “”all the rights, duties, powers responsibilities and authority”” which a parent has: in other words, the right to have a say in how a
The Government has published more information about its plans for shared parental leave and extending the right to flexible working. It says that under the new system: Employed mothers will still be entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave as a day one right Mothers can choose to end their maternity leave after the initial
The Court of Appeal has held that the fall in property prices in the recession was “reasonably foreseeable” so a farmer can seek damages of up to £398,000 from engineering consultants who delayed work on a development by 15 months. The case involved a farmer who obtained planning permission to build houses on a field
Two directors have been found guilty of contempt of court after disposing of their company’s goodwill assets in breach of a freezing order. The two directors were involved in a family based agency which sold mechanical breakdown insurance policies. An insurance company became unhappy with the way the directors ran the agency and blamed them
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has put forward a set of proposals to tackle issues causing concern to both tenants and landlords in the lettings market. The OFT says it analysed 4,000 complaints from across the spectrum and found that tenants and landlords were often unhappy about fees charged by agents, the poor service