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Family Law
If you have recently decided to end a marriage or relationship, our family law solicitors in London can help you to get a divorce or dissolve a civil partnership in a way that protects your children as well as family finances.
When a marriage fails, there can be a lot at stake – not only emotionally but also in terms of children, money and assets long shared between the two partners. If your marriage has broken down and you were about to Google ‘divorce lawyers near me’, rest assured that our divorce law firm in London is trained to ease various difficulties of the divorce process.Â
Using easy-to-understand language, we can guide you on how to avoid various pitfalls of divorce proceedings once a divorce petition form has been submitted to the court.
For example, we can advise you on how to not only untangle complex financial matters,but also watch out for your children’s welfare as a divorce gets underway. However, despite our well-honed expertise in litigation, we will endeavour to find you amicable means of resolving disputes as your divorce proceeds, so that you can hopefully avoid needing to go to court.
While we would encourage you to treat court action only as a last resort, we are nonetheless ready to assist you in handling various aspects of a court case should the situation render one necessary.To find out more about our services and knowhow in family law, please call 0208 215 0053.
Our team of family law solicitors in London is headed by Arfan Aslam, an experienced lawyer specialising in all areas of family law. We are a niche family law service provider offering legal advice. We know that a personal service can make all the difference to the outcome of a family law case – and this kind of bespoke approach is exactly what we take.
We are always honest in the advice we provide, as we appreciate that important life decisions are made on the back of our advice.
From the moment a new client initially gets in touch with us, we are upfront with them about the costs associated with our professional service. We are happy to mediate on the client’s behalf, but also not afraid to take their family law matter to court when we judge this to be the best strategy for protecting the client’s interest.
The various family law disputes we are trained to tackle include those concerning divorce, civil partnership dissolution, property, finance and children – as well as cases where domestic abuse or child abuse is evidenced.
Our London-based solicitors have an impressive record in resolving financial disputes and bringing suitable divorce settlements to fruition. Hence, if you are concerned that your divorce could threaten either your current wealth or your future financial picture, we invite you to place your faith in our divorce law specialists, who can assist in getting you the best possible financial outcome.
Our family law solicitors also partner with forensic accountants, so that you can gain an accurate insight into the marriage’s finances and assets, including any hidden assets if necessary.
We know that your marriage could have left you with years of financial ties to unpick – and attempting to unravel these can be emotionally testing for many divorcing couples. Financial settlements arising from your divorce – or simply ‘divorce settlements’, as they are otherwise known – can cover pensions, investments, the family home and even pre-marriage assets.
Hence, if you are determined to keep your assets intact as the divorce proceedings are seen through to their natural conclusion, we urge you to contact us for expert legal assistance.
Naturally, you could easily feel distraught if a divorce leaves you with little financial leeway to provide for your family in the future – especially if you believe the assets of the marriage have been distributed unfairly. We can help you to prevent this injustice from happening – we’re here to fight your corner so that you get the best possible deal from the divorce.
We can handle complex financial matters, property and estates. Even if you are a high net worth individual or have assets abroad, we can assist you in striking a fair divorce settlement.
It’s worth emphasising that very few divorce cases entail just legally ending a marriage. So, you could easily find that arrangements must be made for any children of which you and your soon-to-be-ex-spouse have long shared custody. Factors affecting divorce settlements include how long the marriage lasted and how much each spouse contributed to the family’s assets.Â
If your divorce was finalised a while ago, but changing circumstances have made you want to contest the original settlement, our divorce solicitors in London can discuss what legal options are available to you.
To commence divorce proceedings, you must fill in a divorce petition form before sending it to the court by post or online. This is just the first stage in the divorce process – which, when complete, will see you sent the ‘decree absolute’ legal document officially ending your marriage.
If the divorce application is not challenged, you can expect your divorce to be finalised about six months after the divorce petition was filed. However, if your divorce application is challenged, the divorce proceedings can take 12-18 months to be wrapped up.
Other factors, such as court availability, can also affect the timescales of divorce proceedings.
This, too, depends on whether the divorce application is challenged. If no challenge is forthcoming, it is unlikely that you will need to attend Court in person.
However, if the divorce application is indeed challenged, you will be required to turn up at Court in person. While there, you might need to give oral evidence.
Statistically, you are unlikely to need to appear before a judge at any point in the divorce process, as most divorce applications are not met with any formal objections from the other party. As a result, courts are usually able to deal with divorces simply by using the documents sent to them.
If you are initiating the divorce process, you must complete a divorce petition where you correctly specify your reasons (grounds) for divorcing. Failing to get this part right could cost you money, such as if your spouse accuses you of being unfair with the grounds you have chosen.Â
You must try to mediate between each other before making an application to Court. In a divorce, you could be entitled to various financial provisions – including:
However, the forms of financial relief or assistance available to you will depend on the specific circumstances of your divorce case.Â
By default, UK law does not grant unmarried couples the same protections as unmarried couples – and the concept of the ‘common-law partner’ is simply mythical.
So, if you do opt to separate, this could pose an array of difficult challenges unless, before the separation, the two of you had struck what is often referred to as a ‘living together agreement’.
Otherwise referred to as a cohabitation agreement, this is where you and your partner will have made a record of how you intended to own and share things together.
If you are still in a happy relationship with your partner, making a cohabitation agreement now with help from one of our family law solicitors can act as a kind of insurance policy in case you later split up.
If no cohabitation agreement is in place when you separate, your rights will be very limited – and it is unlikely you will have a share in the house you live in or be entitled to any financial assistance.
It is highly encouraged for parents to reach an agreement out of court. If a dispute over child arrangements reaches the courtroom, and especially if the situation descends into a drawn-out court case, this can unsurprisingly be highly distressing to the children in question.
However, if the separating couple are unable to come to a decision out of court, the court can step in to settle the issue. Generally, the court is likely to give a parent the right to meet their children after a separation as long as this arrangement would not pose any risk of harm to the child.
Unfortunately, no. We can, however, direct you to a firm capable of providing you with legal aid if you are financially eligible for this form of financial assistance.
Until January 2020, anyone financially eligible for legal aid could approach any firm of solicitors and receive legal aid. Today, however, only a select number of firms are permitted to offer legal aid. All of these companies have been vetted by the Legal Services Commission (LSC).
Legal aid can be provided to assist with legal costs for private family law matters including:
Please make an enquiry with our family law solicitors in London to receive suitably tailored advice and guidance on your situation. You can call us on 0208 215 0053.
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