There is a famous joke about a man who rushes into a lawyer’s office and asks him to arrange a divorce for him. The lawyer told the man that getting a divorce would depend on the circumstances and asked ‘have you any grounds for divorce?’, to which the man replied, ‘yes, about an acre and
No fault divorce is something that Resolution, the national family justice body, and its members have been campaigning for over 30 years. On 17th June this year, the campaign achieved its aim and the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill passed through the House of Commons. This landmark piece of legislation will fundamentally change how the
The subject of divorce is very much under focus at the moment given the second reading of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill in the House of Commons. However, for the purposes of this article I am going to consider the law as it currently is rather than what it will hopefully be in the
In the first part of this blog I explained what Early Neutral Evaluation is, how the process works and where it differs from a Financial Dispute Resolution court hearing (FDR). Here, I am going to explain some of the benefits of Early Neutral Evaluation over the court process by way of an illustrative comparison. To
What is Early Neutral Evaluation? Early Neutral Evaluation is a process used in some divorce cases to help separating couples reach an agreement on financial issues. It is based on the formal court process where – after there has been full financial disclosure and there is a good understanding of the financial circumstances and overall
Under the current Law in England and Wales, there is only one ‘ground’ for divorce, namely, the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage. This can be based on one of five facts: adultery, behaviour, desertion, separation after two years with the consent of the respondent, or separation after five years without the need for the respondent’s
Both opposite and same-sex couples now have the choice of getting married or entering into a civil partnership. Outside of the religious community, some sections of the general public are starting to view marriage and civil partnerships as one and the same, the same commitment just with a different title. Often, a civil partner will
Court v Mediation – A Case Study in Nine Coffees The benefits of mediation are countless. As we have explored in other blogs and materials for Family Mediation Week 2020, mediation works. It can be used to achieve more constructive outcomes and help ex partners be the parents they want to be post separation or
Gemma Hope, family law solicitor, collaborative lawyer and mediator, explores the likely issues, trends and themes that are set to shape year ahead for family law professionals and couples who are separating or divorcing. No-fault divorce The current divorce process requires many people to blame their spouse on their divorce petition. As I have outlined
Separating or going through a divorce is one of life’s most difficult journeys. When you are separating, a lot of legal words get thrown around – custody, residence, contact, access, child arrangements, shared parenting and of course, co-parenting. Understandably, all of this legal jargon can be very difficult for parents to understand. In recent years, one of