In November 2011 the Family Justice Review was published. This was the work of an independent panel, headed up by David Norgrove, who had been asked by the government to consider the changes which should be made to make the…
Domestic abuse and divorce
I have written before about the tendency of the family law system to divide areas of life into discrete boxes. If you have engaged a solicitor to help with divorce, financial and children issues, you may well find that this…
What is a child arrangements order?
The French Senate passed an amendment last week providing that on relationship breakdown there is now a presumption that there will be shared care of the children from that relationship. If a judge makes an order other than shared residence…
The international posting: expat divorces
I was interested to read recently that the wonderful scientists of Oxford University have located a molecule in the human body which acts as a brake, delaying adjustment to new time zones. It is called SIK1. As a result of…
What are my rights when divorcing?
It is entirely understandable that people seek an answer to the question “what are my rights?” when entering a divorce process. Rights in this context are about entitlement, and what that individual is entitled to. So what are you entitled…
The UK divorce rate: who is divorcing and why
I have attached below the figures produced by the UK Office of National Statistics, which is the recognised UK national statistical institute. The UK divorce rate statistics included in this table deal with divorces for the calender year 2011. The…
Can I keep the house or will I be forced to sell after divorce?
To enable anyone to answer the question “Can I keep the house or will I be forced to sell after divorce?” for you, you will need to be able to give them a broad idea about what your total “asset…
What is unreasonable behaviour?
Unreasonable behaviour is one of the facts that you can use to obtain a divorce. The unreasonable behaviour of a husband is the most popular reason chosen by a wife when preparing her divorce petition (in 54% of cases in…
How long does it take to get a divorce?
This is a question which is at the forefront of people’s minds when they seek advice. How long does the process take? I will answer this with the help of one (celebrity) case which may conclude in a total of…
Delaying the distribution of the assets: what is a Mesher order and a deferred charge?
Family solicitors use previous cases to name things. So we have Calderbank letters from Calderbank v Calderbank, Rose orders from Rose v Rose and Mesher orders from Mesher v Mesher and Hall. I appreciate that this is not too helpful…