Divorce settlement highlights importance of primary carer’s role
This article explores a Family Court ruling emphasising the role of the primary carer in divorce settlements.
Paul Owen
Family, Children & Separation
Paul is a partner in our Private Family Team.
Contact Information
TestimonialsResponded to any emails quickly, was very upfront with the matter. Couldn’t have helped any more than Paul did was extremely grateful for his time.Paul provided a very sleek and efficient service.Fantastic service. Very professional! Calms the situation, puts matters into perspective, makes excellent decisions.Mr M.I found you to be efficient concise in all dealings and believe you to be totally fair with guidance on costs.Mr C.Thank you for achieving a very successful outcome for me. I cannot speak too highly of your expertise and professionalism.Mr R.B.I found you very helpful and understanding, I was kept informed of my case.Mrs N.M.I want to thank you for how easy you and Machins have made this, I felt totally supported all the way through and I really appreciated your candid and fair comments/responses both to me and also to my ex-wife's solicitor. I have and will continue to, highly recommend you to various contacts and hope you do achieve some increase in business as a result.Mr B.I know we didn't start as straightforward as we wanted, but throughout the entire process when you took over, you have been thorough, clear and supportive. I appreciate all your efforts and good advice.Mrs M.Paul was fantastic to deal with, I never had any worries at all as he dealt with all problems in a prompt and timely manner.I cannot express how pleased I have been with your outstanding and very professional servicesPaul Owen was knowledgeable, thorough and supportive through a private family law matter. Very professional.Machins offer a first class professional service.
Responded to any emails quickly, was very upfront with the matter. Couldn’t have helped any more than Paul did was extremely grateful for his time.
Paul provided a very sleek and efficient service.
Fantastic service. Very professional! Calms the situation, puts matters into perspective, makes excellent decisions.
Mr M.
I found you to be efficient concise in all dealings and believe you to be totally fair with guidance on costs.
Mr C.
Thank you for achieving a very successful outcome for me. I cannot speak too highly of your expertise and professionalism.
Mr R.B.
I found you very helpful and understanding, I was kept informed of my case.
Mrs N.M.
I want to thank you for how easy you and Machins have made this, I felt totally supported all the way through and I really appreciated your candid and fair comments/responses both to me and also to my ex-wife's solicitor. I have and will continue to, highly recommend you to various contacts and hope you do achieve some increase in business as a result.
Mr B.
I know we didn't start as straightforward as we wanted, but throughout the entire process when you took over, you have been thorough, clear and supportive. I appreciate all your efforts and good advice.
Mrs M.
Paul was fantastic to deal with, I never had any worries at all as he dealt with all problems in a prompt and timely manner.
I cannot express how pleased I have been with your outstanding and very professional services
Paul Owen was knowledgeable, thorough and supportive through a private family law matter. Very professional.
Machins offer a first class professional service.
About Paul
Paul has been a specialist family law expert for over 30 years, starting his career with Machin’s Solicitors LLP in 1991 and qualifying as a solicitor in 1993. He became a partner in 1997 and has dealt with family law related work ever since. During his long career, Paul has developed expertise in all areas of family law including highly complex financial matters, cohabitation disputes, private and public children’s law cases and domestic abuse cases. He has always undertaken his own advocacy whenever possible, including multiple day final court hearings in what was formerly the Magistrates and County Court’s (now the Family Court) and the High Court and continues to do so.
Due to the breadth of his legal knowledge and experience, pragmatism, ability to represent a client objectively and the sheer number of cases he has dealt with, Paul is able to analyse a case at the outset, identify the issues to be addressed and provide accurate legal advice at the earliest opportunity. That frequently leads to a resolution without the need for court proceedings, avoiding long delays and unnecessary legal costs. He takes an analytical approach to his work, applying calm logic while understanding the emotional nature of family law. He seeks to engage the other party and their solicitor to take a collaborative approach to a case. He always strides to work openly and constructively to find solutions that benefit both sides, which allows everyone to move on that much sooner and lessen the impact on clients and those around them.
If court proceedings are required Paul’s clients rarely asked to be represented by barristers. They recognise the benefit he brings to court cases in particular, providing continuity of legal representation from the outset to conclusion. Separation can be a difficult time for many and the knowledge that they will have the same solicitor helps to lessen anxiety, avoids repetition, allows a professional relationship to develop and will almost always provide significant cost savings. He is, when required, a straight talking tenacious litigator with countless court days of direct experience of cross examination of witnesses and presentation of cases, more often than not with the other party or parties being represented by a barrister and a solicitor.
Approach to work
Paul’s drive to achieve the best possible outcome for his clients remains undiminished from the moment he first entered a court room in 1991. A healthy body means a healthy mind and to keep himself as fit as that first moment, Paul runs every single day and has done for many years. He has taken part in well over a 100 marathons and ultra-marathons. His love of running and razor sharp drafting skills combined in recent years and led to his writing two bestselling running related books. He has coached a local running club for over eight years raising over £40,000 in the process for a local Hospice.
Specialist practice areas- Divorce, dissolution and separation following marriage, civil partnership or cohabitation
- Arrangements between parents or grandparents regarding children
- Financial arrangements following breakdown of a relationship including financial orders and deeds of separation
- Domestic abuse
- Child abduction
- Adoption
- Forced Marriage Protection Orders
- Civil partnerships
- Prenuptial arrangements
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A father has been told that he cannot invoke the Hague Convention to have his children returned to Austria after their mother took them to live in England. The Family Court was told that the children were British citizens born in the UK in 2012 and 2019 and were aged nine and two. The parents
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