Blog

Happy Holidays, hopefully

It’s the school summer holidays and single parents will be wanting to take their children abroad for a much deserved holiday. But, did you know that unless you have a court order confirming your child lives with you, you need the written consent of the other parent? Sometimes, this is not an issue and you can go through passport control with no difficulty but if they request evidence of the other parent’s consent and you don’t have it, you could be prevented from leaving the country. Contact me for a free initial conversation about your position and note my new phone number

Special Guardianship Order

What does this mean? Well, an SGO is an order whereby someone is appointed to be the legal carer of a child until the child is 18. That carer is known as a Special Guardian and is usually a relative of the child, such as a grandparent or aunt/uncle. The Special Guardian will share parental responsibility with the parents, parental responsibility being the responsibility that parents have to make decisions for a child, such as where the child goes to school and what medical treatment the child receives. Usually, everyone with parental responsibility has to agree on a decision but a Special Guardian can make decisions without the agreement of the parents because the Special Guardian is responsible for bringing up the child. The orders are usually made because the parents are unable to care for the child and is an alternative to adoption. Often, where a child cannot be cared for by parents, a care order is made so that the child goes into foster care and is often adopted. By having an SGO in favour of a relation, the child is still living within the family and usually having contact with the parents and siblings and this is a much better outcome for the child and the extended family. I am available to advise in more detail about these matters including the court procedure so don’t hesitate to get in touch

What is a Contact Centre?

Sometimes, when parents are separated and the children live with just one parent, there is a suggestion that the other parent should see the children at a Contact Centre. There are myths about this including that it means the parent cannot be trusted around children and needs to be supervised. This is not the case. Contact Centres do not supervise contact. The Centres are neutral places where children can enjoy spending time with the parent with whom they don’t live, and also the extended family of that parent. They are comfortable, safe places and designed to support families, not supervise and criticise. Usually, Centres are only open on a Saturday and they are run by volunteers who give up their time to help children and parents maintain a happy and close relationship when the parents’ relationship has broken down. They are often used where there has been a long gap since the child and parent met and a neutral place is needed to enable them to re-establish their contact. The staff do not keep notes, nor do they send reports to lawyers or courts on what has happened. They will, of course, step in if they think a child is in danger. Most Centres provide a separate room for the parent who takes the child to wait if they don’t want to meet the other parent or want to be there in case the child gets distressed. If you are faced with a suggestion of using a Contact Centre, please get in touch for initial free of charge information

It’s really not my fault

Last year, I wrote a blog about the new divorce law which was due to come into effect in the Autumn of 2021. It has now come into effect and the online divorce portal is up and running

So, what’s new? Well, now, provided one spouse considers the marriage to have broken down irretrievably, that spouse can apply for a divorce online, and it will be granted. The only way the other spouse can “defend” the proceedings, or as it is now termed, dispute, is to show either that the English court does not have jurisdiction to deal with the case or to question the validity of the marriage at all

There is now provision for a joint application for a divorce, which can be used where both spouses can communicate civilly. Otherwise, one spouse issues an application and then there is a wait of 20 weeks. After 20 weeks, the court will issue a “conditional order” and six weeks and one day later, the applicant can apply for a final order and that is the divorce concluded

It is important to remember that there will probably be financial issues that need to be dealt with so getting divorced, although simplified, does not end financial ties and I would urge anyone going through divorce to obtain early advice on the financial implications. I am always here to help

Ds and Es – financial statements explained

I am often asked by clients why they still have to file a statement setting out their financial positions when they have reached an agreement with their ex. Basically, there are two different financial statements that have to be completed depending upon whether there is an agreement, or whether you are negotiating a settlement with your ex or through the court

If you have reached an agreement which you are asking the court to convert into an order, the judge has to be satisfied the agreement is fair so he will need to have a summary of each of your financial positions. This summary is provided on a form called a D81

If you have not reached an agreement and you are negotiating a settlement with your ex, or an application is made to the court for the court to decide, you will have to disclose your financial positions to each other and this is done by completing a form called a Form E

These two forms are very different. The D81 is just a summary of your positions, not backed up with evidence. Of course, you have to be truthful because if it is later discovered you have not been, the order made can be overturned and the whole process started again, causing more stress and costs than if your solicitor had dealt with the case in the first place. The Form E is more more detailed and has to be accompanied with documentary evidence of your financial positions

The forms are exchanged with each other so that you both have full information about each other’s financial position to enable you to decide if your agreement is fair, or, what sort of settlement you should be looking at. It enables your solicitor to provide informed advice on these points too. A court will not make an agreement into an order unless it is fair and will be looking to make an order reflecting fairness if making a decision for you. This can only be done if you have each disclosed your true financial positions to each other

There are steps that can be taken by a court if one party is trying to hide assets or being untruthful generally and one of the sanctions can be imprisonment

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you require more detailed advice on this matter

Doggone!

“Doggone it!” is an expression of exasperation, often replacing “Goddamn it” and one that can rightly be used by one half of a separating couple on finding the other partner has left, taking the precious family dog. What can be done in such situations? It should be remembered that the family dog is a beloved member of the family, sometimes replacing children in relationships where there are no children. It is usually the case that both partners love and want the dog and sometimes the partner who takes the dog, does to out of spite to the other partner or as a bargaining tool. The emotions that accompany issues surrounding the dog are ones to be taken into account along with the distress of the end of the relationship and dealing with the division of the financial assets

The law does not take into account emotions and feelings and the family pet is treated as a thing, much like a television or washing machine. In the case of divorce and the financial proceedings that accompany a divorce where there is no agreement, the court will not deal separately with ownership of a dog, any more than they would deal separately with a car or luxury item of furniture (considering a similar value to a dog). Divorce courts look at a financial settlement/order as a whole. There is no power for a divorce court to order a dog to handed over to one partner. If the partners are in an unmarried relationship, then an application can be made to the small claims court who will look purely at ownership, again, much like ownership of an item. Therefore, to claim ownership of a dog, it is necessary to show evidence about how the dog was paid for, in whose name is the Kennel Club and microchip registered, whose name is registered at the vet and on the pet insurance, who pays expenses, who looks after the dog and so on

Good advice is to consider the above from the outset rather than having to try and argue ownership after the relationship has broken down. Increasingly, couples are using Pet Nups, similar to pre-nuptial agreements to organise finances prior to a marriage. Pet Nups are not recognised by divorce courts as such but they are certainly of persuasive value if ownership and/or arrangements for the pet following separation are set out

Don’t hesitate to get in touch for free initial advice on your own situation

Father’s Day?

On Father’s Day, most fathers get to spend time with their children, even the ones who are separated from the children’s mother. However, some fathers are prevented from doing so because they have a poor relationship with the mother. Where parents are separated, it is vital that they maintain a civilised relationship for the sake of the children. It is very damaging to children when they witness their parents arguing, or even fail to see a positive relationship between their separated parents. In England, the courts put the children’s welfare first so it is not about what the parents want or how the parents feel, it is about what is best for the children. Sometimes it is better for them not to have any contact with their father (or mother) because there is a risk of abuse, but in the absence of that, it is assumed it is better for them to have a relationship with both sides of the family. For fathers, Father’s Day is particularly important and the best advice is to have as good a relationship with the mother as possible to that there is no problem in the children spending that day with them. If you require advice on what to do if this is not working for you, don’t hesitate to get in touch for a free initial discussion

Joint ownership of property

When you buy a property with your partner, there are different ways in which you can own it which should be discussed with you by your conveyancer. Often, people don’t fully understand or properly consider this as the purchase of the property is exciting and you don’t usually think about what will happen if you split up or one of you dies

This issue is particularly important if you do split up because how you own the property usually determines how it is divided up between you. When you are not married, there is very little a court can do other than to follow what the title deeds say

Basically, you will either buy the property as tenants in common or beneficial joint tenants. Tenants in common own different and separate proportions of the same property and these proportions do not have to be equal. For example, one person can own 75% of the property and the other 25%. This situation frequently happens if one person is putting more money into the purchase than the other. Beneficial joint tenants both own the whole property at the same time and do not own, for example, half each. This means that if one person dies, the house is automatically owned by the other. A share in the property cannot be left in a Will. If you therefore wish to ensure that you keep your share in the property safe, it is best to buy as tenants in common. This is recommended where, for example, one person has children from a previous relationship and wants to ensure their share in the property can be left in a Will for those children

If you own your property as beneficial joint tenants and your relationship breaks down, it is sometimes wise to change to being tenants in common and this can be done by serving notice on the other owner. This is something I can assist with, as well as explaining the above in more detail so don’t hesitate to get in touch

SPIP – why should I have to attend one?

Parents involved in court proceedings about their children are invariably ordered by the court to attend a SPIP – Separated Parents Information Programme. Often, the parents are offended by the suggestion that they need information on being a parent and baulk against having to attend. However, the purpose of the programme is not to teach parenting skills but to help them understand how to put the children first when they are in dispute with each other. It is very difficult to put feelings about each other to one side and concentrate on the effect on the children

The course is a four hour session with a mixed group of parents, but the separated couple will not attend the same session

Most parents want the best for their children but sometimes struggle to implement this when they have different views and the course enables parents to consider the emotional effect on the children and offers options on dealing with this. It considers children’s needs and the impact of parental conflict on them. Very importantly, it looks at parental communication and how to react under stress

Apart from the fact that courts often order parents to attend, it is a very helpful course in understanding the effects of a dispute about them, on the children the dispute is about

It’s not my fault!

Currently, if you want a divorce, you have to show your spouse is at fault in some way, such as they have committed adultery or behaved unreasonably. We don’t have the ground of “irreconcilable differences” as in America. However, that is soon to change and a new divorce law is due to come into effect in the Autumn of 2021. The ground for divorce now is that the marriage has broken down irretrievably, proved by showing your spouse is at fault but when the new law comes into effect, you will just have to file a statement saying the marriage has broken down irretrievably. You will then have to wait for six months before the divorce is made final. This may seem a long time but it is surely better than the unpleasantness caused by detailing incidents of behaviour of your spouse which often makes the unhappy breakdown of the marriage even more bitter. It will also give the chance to sort out other issues arising from the breakdown of the marriage like arrangements for the children and financial matters

I have a common law marriage, haven’t I?

Many people believe that if they have lived together for six months, they have the same rights as a married couple. This is not the case and there is no such thing as a common law marriage. This means that if the relationship breaks down, unmarried couples do not have the same protection as married couples have from the divorce court but may have the same financial matters to deal with. These financial matters include, what happens to the family home, does one party have to pay maintenance to the other, what happens to savings and does one party have an interest in the other’s pension

With regard to the family home, this is dealt with purely by land law, not family law, so the starting point is to look at in whose name the property is owned and also how it is owned. Sometimes, one party might have contributed more money than the other even if the property is owned in joint names and it is possible for the property to be owned in unequal shares to reflect the financial contribution, eg, one party owns 75% and the other 25%. This will have been dealt with at the time of purchase. If there is a dispute on separation, an application can be made to a court for a declaration as to who owns the property. Where a property is owned in the sole name of one party and the other claims they have made financial contributions, a court can determine if the non-owner has gained a financial interest. A court can order a house to be sold but will take into account whether it was purchased as a family home and whether it is still needed as a home for children. There are other applications that can be made on behalf of children in respect of a property. This is quite a complicated area of law and requires specialist legal advice

With regard to maintenance, unmarried couples have no liability to pay maintenance for the other when the relationship ends. Parents have a responsibility to pay maintenance for children not living with them and this is dealt with by the Child Maintenance Service

Savings are owned by the person in whose name the account is. It is possible to make an application for an interest in the other party’s savings if you have contributed to them and again, this requires specialist legal advice

Unmarried people have no right to claim against their partner’s pension if they split. They may be named as beneficiary on death or be able to make a claim on the death of the partner, but there is no available claim just on separation

Please get in touch if you require any more detailed advice and I will be happy to assist

I’ve reached an agreement with my ex

Quite often, a client will come to me and say they have reached a financial agreement with their ex and would like it put into a court order at the end of their divorce.  This is absolutely fine and I am always happy when clients have reached amicable agreements.  It is not for me to interfere and tell clients they have got it wrong.  However, you do need to ensure that you know what you are entitled to and sometimes you may reach an agreement because you don’t want to pay solicitors’ fees, because you are intimidated by your ex, because you want to do things amicably or because you think you have a good deal.  I do urge clients to be careful in these situations.  It is sometimes more cost effective to pay a solicitor to look at the agreement first because you may actually end up with more money than you expected and it is worth the initial outlay, which may, in fact be less than anticipated.  You should also not allow your ex to force you into an agreement without careful thought.  I can look at the proposed agreement and advise you how to negotiate something better, or do that for you, and I can guide you as to what a better outcome might be.  Please ask me for my information leaflet which sets out details of exchanging your financial details with each other so that you are fully informed about what the actual assets are that you are splitting