Family

We advise and support parents and families on all aspects of their child's upbringing, including their general welfare and development. We support positive parenting and can arrange coaching to provide support and guidance, a separated parent's information programme or the assistance of a parenting coordinator in suitable cases. We help pre-empt and resolve any difficulties that might ultimately lead to discord and advise and represent parents in matters regarding their child's life, including, where separation occurs, how much time they spend with each of their parents, as well as specific issues such as changing a child's name and for leave to remove a child to another country (whether in the short-term or permanently).

Cohabiting couples do not have the same automatic rights or protections at the end of the relationship that married couples or those in a civil partnership do. We assist couples with planning for and matters that arise from cohabitation, sharing a home, arrangements for children, financial and practical issues, and relationship breakdown.

We help clients through all stages of divorce and/or dissolution from application to final order. With no-fault divorce and joint applications for divorce now being available, we encourage couples to approach a divorce constructively, to minimise acrimony from the outset. We have extensive experience of cases where a spouse is domiciled and/or resident in a different country.

We help clients enforce financial orders through use of the court's disclosure powers, charging orders, third party debt orders and all other available options. We also assist with the enforcement of orders made in relation to arrangements for children.

We deal with all aspects of financial applications stemming from relationship breakdown, whether from divorce/dissolution, separation or in relation to children.  We have extensive experience in complex cases, including those featuring assets held through corporate or trust structures, inherited wealth and offshore assets.

High net worth families are increasingly mobile, with personal and financial ties to multiple jurisdictions. We draw upon our extensive experience and connections with overseas lawyers, trust companies and Family Offices, accountants and other relevant professionals to provide a thorough and collaborative approach to achieve our clients' objectives.

We appreciate that funds may not always be readily available to meet the costs of negotiation or litigation. We can provide clients with information regarding funding options and, where appropriate, advise on obtaining a court order regarding assets or income that might be used for this purpose.

Where clients are considering a pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement, we advise on appropriate terms including obtaining advice from overseas lawyers as appropriate, assist with negotiation and prepare the relevant documents where agreement is reached.

We advise on all aspects of the relationship between financial claims and trusts, whether the trust is being used as a structure to fund the family's lifestyle or is a wholly separate asset. We work closely with our colleagues in Private Wealth Disputes where contentious trust issues arise.