Family Law Articles & Advice

If your son or daughter is getting divorced then, as a grandparent, it is a traumatic time. You may not agree with your child’s decision to separate from their husband or wife or get on with their new partner. You may not like how your child is being used as a pawn by their warring parents. This blog looks at what rights grandparents have in a divorce.   Grandparents and Children Law Cheshire children law solicitors have seen a marked rise in enquiries from grandparents wanting to know about their right to see their grandchildren following the separation or divorce of their son or daughter.   Children solicitors put the rise in enquiries about grandparent rights down to: Grandparents having a better understanding that they do have some rights from organisations set up to help grandparents and from social media; Grandparents being actively involved in bringing up their grandchildren and not wanting to lose contact or their close bond with their grandchild because of a divorce; Newspaper reports about cases where grandparents have made successful applications to obtain family court orders to enable them to see their grandchildren and maintain their relationship with them.   Grandparent Rights Some grandparents and parents assume that there is a special ‘’grandparent application’’ that a grandparent cam make to secure access to their grandchild. Top Cheshire family law solicitors say that there is no special application available for grandparents.   If a relative of a child wants to see a child and the parent or parents object to contact then the relative (including grandparents) can make an application to the family court under the Children Act 1989.   Normally a grandparent wants an order that they can see their grandchildren on a regular basis. This type of family court order used to be called an access order or contact order. The terminology has changed and if a grandparent wants access to or contact with a grandchild they need to apply to court for permission to apply for a child arrangements order .   When a grandparent finds out that they need to ask the court for permission to apply for a child arrangements order, the court process can seem unnecessarily complicated and cumbersome. After all, a parent or anyone else with parental responsibility for a child does not need to first ask the court if they can apply for an order. However, specialist children solicitors say that grandparents should not be put off from making a court application for a child arrangements order just because they need to ask for permission to apply for an order.   Applying for Permission If a grandparent has had a close relationship with a grandchild and they are being stopped from spending any time with their grandchild then generally the court will grant permission to make the court application for a child arrangements order.   Once permission has been granted to apply for a child arrangements order then the court application will proceed in exactly the same way as a parent applying for contact or an order to see their child. [related_posts] Grandparents and Child Arrangements Orders    When a court is asked to make a child arrangements order it will look at whether or not the court thinks that the order being sought is in the child’s best interests, taking into account a range of factors known as the ‘’welfare checklist’’.   The court will undertake a similar exercise whether a parent, aunt, sibling or grandparent makes an application for a child arrangements order. However, courts do increasingly understand just how important a grandparent is in a child’s life and how vital it is for children to maintain a relationship with their extended family after a separation or divorce.   For legal assistance with grandparent rights please contact our expert children law solicitors today

As leading Cheshire divorce solicitors, we are often asked if there is a simple hack to reduce the stress of a divorce. Many people thought that the government announcement that it intends to introduce ‘’no fault’’ divorce   would result in less stressful divorces but most divorce solicitors say most of the stress of a divorce comes from: Taking the initial decision on whether to separate or not; Thinking about how you will tell the children about a planned separation or the decision to start divorce proceedings ; Reaching an agreement about how much time the children will send in each household ; Breaking the news of your decision to separate to close family or to mutual friends; Worrying about how you will cope financially after a divorce ; that can either be immediate worries or long term concerns about the effect of getting divorced and the impact on your pension and retirement planning; Concerns about whether or not you will need to move out of the family home and, if so, how that will affect the children, for example ease of getting to their current schools or seeing friends.   A good divorce solicitor will tell you that there is no one magic solution to reduce divorce stress, but some simple steps can help:   Take time for yourself If you are facing a separation or divorce, you may be worried about how your children or family will react to the news. Often your wants and needs are low down on your list of priorities. Whilst that is understandable, it is not healthy. Whilst it is not legal advice, most good divorce solicitors would recommend that you take time for yourself, whether that is taking time for a chat with a friend or a trip to the gym.   Acknowledge how you are feeling If you are feeling emotional or you think things feel out of control then speaking to a counsellor or to your doctor about how you are feeling can be a good option.   Limit social media Social media and contact with friends via face book and other social media sites can be a comfort but it can equally be the major cause of divorce stress.  That is because content and messaging, especially with a former partner, can quickly become overwhelming and distract you from the things that you do need to sort out.   Talking to the children Parents are often reluctant to tell their children about a planned separation. That is normally because they want to protect their children for as long as possible. Parents also tend to think that they cannot talk to their children until they themselves know the answers to what the agreed parenting arrangements will be or whether the family home will be sold or not. However, children will pick up on the atmosphere or tensions at home and normally adult stress levels are reduced once children have been told about a planned separation.   Take legal advice A divorce solicitor will be able to reach an agreement over parenting arrangements, custody and access and your financial settlement options. Practical and pragmatic advice taken either before your separation or at an early stage after your separation can help you reduce divorce stress and the likelihood of contested children or financial proceedings. [related_posts] For legal advice on your divorce or dissolution of civil partnership proceedings please contact us.

We all know that children are priceless and that we will do anything for our kids. However when a couple decide to separate or divorce a lot of emotional energy and money can be spent on sorting out who has custody of the children or, for example, if the children should be allowed to  move abroad with one parent or how much access or contact time one parent should enjoy with the children.   Children Court Proceedings and Cost Orders Many parents think that if they get custody of their child (called a child arrangements order ) or get the type of access they asked for or if a judge stops a child moving abroad to live with one parent then as they have ‘’won ‘’ the court case, the court will make a costs order in their favour.   Cheshire children law solicitors will tell you that it is very rare for a court deciding a children case to make an order for costs. The normal costs rule in children law proceedings is that ‘’no order for costs’’ will be made. That means each parent has to pay his or her own legal fees.   The court in children court proceedings does have the power to make costs orders. However, a family judge will only consider making a costs order in cases where the conduct of a party has been reprehensible or unreasonable. That is a pretty high bar. That is why most children law solicitors advise, at the outset of court proceedings, that the parent should assume that they will not get the court to make a costs order in their favour.   Costs Orders and Unreasonable Behaviour A recent example of where the family court was persuaded to make a cost order in child abduction proceedings is the case of Re J (Children).   The background to the court case was that a mother applied for court permission to take her children to Ukraine for the purpose of a holiday. The children did not return to the UK at the end of their holiday. The father started court proceedings for the return of the children and a number of court orders were made. They were not complied with.   The judge made a cost order against the children’s mother and maternal grandfather. This was because the judge thought the mother had duped the father and the court and had never planned to return the children to the UK after the court gave her permission to take the children on holiday.   The maternal family appealed against the cost order but the appeal court decided that as court orders ordering the return of the children to the UK had been flouted it was appropriate to depart from the usual rule in children law proceedings that both parents pay their own legal fees. [related_posts] Children Court Proceedings and Costs Although the father, in the case of Re J, was successful in securing a costs order Cheshire children law solicitors still urge parents contemplating starting court proceedings to go ahead on the basis that the overwhelming likelihood is that each parent will pay their own legal costs.   That is why it is vital that parents choose their children law solicitor with care to make sure that not only is the solicitor an expert in children law but they explain fully the court options and the potential costs involve and provide a transparent price guide .    For assistance with your child custody and contact case please contact us.

It is tempting to answer the question ‘’does length of marriage affect divorce settlement?’’ by saying that ‘’it all depends’’. However, many would say that reply is a typical politicians or lawyer’s answer and, if you are getting divorced, you want a clear answer, not something woolly. The reality though is that the length of a marriage is a relevant factor when the court decides how much a husband and wife should get in a divorce financial settlement. Just how relevant the length of the marriage is depends on the couple’s financial and personal circumstances. The short marriage and the divorce financial settlement Many people assume that if a couple have only been married for a couple of years then the divorcing spouse will not get  spousal maintenance or even a ‘’pay out‘’ or divorce financial settlement but it all depends.   If three couples have each been married for two years the financial settlement will be different for each couple, as highlighted by these three case examples:   Couple 1 Janet and John Janet and John are both high flyers and each owned property before their marriage. They have no children. The short length of their marriage will be highly influential in reaching a financial settlement and clean break financial court order.   Couple 2 Mariah and Nick The couple only got together just before their marriage two years ago and shortly afterwards the twins arrived. Mariah left work to look after them as Nick agreed juggling work and childcare was not in the interests of the twins. Although the couple have only been married for two years, the length of their marriage is not highly relevant, as the court will focus on the children’s needs when determining a fair financial settlement.   Couple 3 Bill and Ben Bill and Ben married two years ago but within a matter of months, Bill realised that he had made a mistake. He has moved out and started divorce proceedings. He has assumed that he will get a clean break financial court order as the couple only lived together for twelve months out of their two-year marriage.   However, before the marriage, Bill and Ben had lived together in a continuous relationship for about fifteen years. The court takes into account pre-marriage cohabitation when looking at the length of the marriage, if it was ‘’seamless living together’’. Although the marriage may have officially only been of two years duration, the family court could assess it as a long relationship of seventeen years when looking at what sort of divorce financial settlement would be fair to both Bill and Ben.   Does the length of marriage affect divorce settlement? The case studies show that when a Whitefield divorce solicitor answers the question ‘’ does the length of a marriage affect divorce settlement ‘’ with a ‘’maybe’’ that whilst it may be a woolly answer it is the correct one until more information is available on a couple’s financial and personal circumstances.   For help with your divorce financial settlement please contact our specialist divorce lawyers. [related_posts]

We all know that it goes on; the press is always full of stories about international or multi-millionaire families involved in divorce and financial settlement cases where there are accusations that a husband or wife has hidden assets.   It is not surprising that there are allegations of hidden assets in divorce proceedings when, after all, divorce proceedings are often started because of a lack of trust in a relationship. The fact that a spouse has had an affair can make a husband or wife to lose emotional and financial faith in a spouse. When a separation is imminent or divorce proceedings are started, past actions and financial behaviours can take on a new significance.   You do not need to have the assets of a multimillionaire to worry about a spouse hiding assets in divorce and financial proceedings. The hiding of money or property in divorce and financial cases of more modest means is just as worrying and may even have a more profound effect on the financial settlement.   Examples of hiding assets in divorce  The best Cheshire divorce solicitors will tell you that there are numerous ways in which assets can be hidden during a divorce, and there are warning signs, including: A spouse being secretive about money and not telling you about how many bank and savings accounts they hold; If a spouse is self-employed or is in business and starts to use cash in all transactions whilst telling you that the business is doing badly; If a spouse has boasted of their ability to hide things from you or has previously told you that he or she hid assets from their former spouse during earlier divorce and financial proceedings ; You think that your spouse has transferred money or property to a relative to hide the assets from the divorce and financial proceedings.   Hiding assets – the cost of recovery There are many different and clever ways that a determined and devious spouse can hide money and property in divorce and financial settlement proceedings. However, most Cheshire divorce solicitors are equally determined to trace hidden assets to ensure that everything is ‘’in the pot’’ and can be taken into account in the divorce financial settlement.   When a divorce solicitor is looking for hidden assets, they need to: Work as a team with their client – after all a spouse knows her husband or wife best and will potentially have lots of invaluable information , even if they do not always appreciate just how important their information is to the solicitor; Look at the cost benefit ratio- there is no point in running up a big solicitor’s bill or instructing a forensic accountant to pour over company accounts unless the extra work and costs is likely to produce more by way of financial settlement than the extra costs incurred. That is because you cannot guarantee that a court will order a spouse to pay your costs in tracing assets. It is a pointless victory if the bigger financial settlement is swallowed up by extra legal costs. Look at the bigger picture and use their expertise to assess a case before embarking on tracing hidden assets. For example if a husband and wife have been married for twelve months the likely size of the financial settlement , based on the length of the marriage, may not be effected by whether the solicitor can discover hidden assets. That is because the short length of the marriage may be of overwhelming importance to the size of financial settlement, rather than the extent of the family assets. [related_posts] Financial disclosure and hiding assets In financial court proceedings, a husband and wife are obliged to provide ’’full and frank’’ financial disclosure to their spouse. That does not always happen. Additional enquiries, such as questionnaires and single joint expert and shadow expert reports can be commissioned to trace assets. Sometimes a solicitor can spot that a spouse is trying to hide money, property or income through: Transferring money out of a bank account as cash and saying that the cash has been spent but really opening a secret bank account with the cash; Producing incomplete internet transaction histories for bank accounts to try to avoid revealing entries; Saying that money taken out of a savings account was to repay family debt but the debt was artificial, with the plan being for the ‘’debt’’ to be repaid after the financial proceedings are finalised; Pretending that they do not own a new property. A simple search of the Land Registry can reveal the truth about property ownership; Not disclosing the existence of family trusts or inheritances. These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to hiding assets in divorce proceedings.   The best thing that you can do if you suspect that your spouse is hiding or has hidden assets is to take legal advice from a specialist and experienced Cheshire divorce solicitor such as Evolve Family Law. We will be able to help you weigh up the pros, cons, and costs of tracing the hidden assets.   For information about financial settlement options or for representation in financial court proceedings please contact our expert divorce lawyers.

Most separated and divorced parents find some of the child support service rules relating to the calculation of child maintenance incomprehensible. Child maintenance solicitors have to try to explain how child support is calculated without attempting to try to justify the rules or tribunal decisions.   Child maintenance and shared care Nowadays, in the vast majority of family situations, if you separate or divorce and you have dependent children, the child maintenance service (rather than the family court) will have the jurisdiction to calculate how much child support should be paid and to enforce the assessment.   In order to try to keep child maintenance simple to calculate, some years ago the child maintenance service introduced a new child support formula. How much you pay in child maintenance is calculated as a percentage of your income. That sounds simple enough to most parents but then added child support rules start to creep in , such as if there is a shared or equal parenting arrangement with the children spending the same amount of time with each parent then no child maintenance is payable by either parent .   The rights and wrongs of the shared parenting rule and child maintenance is a moot point. Most child maintenance solicitors say it can produce both fair and unfair results. Take two scenarios: Two parents equally share the care of the children and both earn roughly the same amount – no child maintenance is liable under child maintenance service rules, not because of the earnings of the mother and father are the same but because care of the children is shared; Two parents equally share the care of the children. One is a high earner and the other barely scrapes by on their salary each month. No child maintenance is liable under child maintenance service rules as the parenting is shared. The parent who is on a lower income will not be able to ask for spousal maintenance to help address the income gap in the two households if they were in a cohabiting or unmarried relationship with their ex-partner.   Child maintenance and contact It is not just shared parenting that can produce odd results with child maintenance service assessments. If a parent has overnight contact with their child, the amount they pay in child support under a child maintenance service assessment is reduced. The amount of the reduction depends on the extent of the overnight contact.   This child maintenance service rule can throw up some equally fair and unfair results, depending on whose perspective you look at child support from. Take two scenarios: A mother is the main carer of the children. The father sees the children each night but cannot have the children overnight as he works shifts and his shift patterns mean that the children would have to get up too early. Although the mother earns twice as much as the father and despite his seeing the children each day, he is liable to pay the full child maintenance service assessment with no reduction for his daily contact as he does not have the children overnight; A mother is the main carer of the children and the father has overnight contact on three nights a week. Although the mother still needs to pay her mortgage and pay for school clothes and holidays, the amount of her child support is reduced significantly because of the father’s overnight staying contact. The mother earns half the amount of the father. That scenario may seem unfair to the mother but imagine if the mother earnt double the father’s income. The father would still have to pay the same amount in child support and pay for his children’s upkeep on three nights a week. However, the father would pay nothing in child maintenance if care were shared equally. The difference a day makes in child contact can add up to hundreds of pounds a month in child maintenance. [related_posts] Child maintenance rules The child maintenance scenarios are just a few examples of why child custody solicitors and child maintenance solicitors do not try to justify the child maintenance service rules.   The best advice , if you are splitting up from a partner and have children together , is to try and reach an agreement over who gets the house , who gets the pension and how the children are financially supported in one package so the fairness of the overall financial settlement can be looked at.   For information about child maintenance and contact and financial settlements please contact our expert children law solicitors today. Appointments are available online or in Whitefield, Manchester and Cheshire.    

Living with a husband or wife who has dementia can be more than some spouses can cope with, especially when there were marital difficulties for a long time prior to the dementia diagnosis. Although there is an increasing amount of support available and understanding of the impact of a dementia diagnosis on the family, for some married couples the right option is divorce. That is particularly the case when the breakdown of the marriage is not thought to be due to the personality changes that sometimes occur following the onset of dementia. Divorce proceedings and dementia Whether the dementia diagnosis has played any part in the reasons for the marriage breakdown there are likely to be feelings of guilt about the divorce and worry about how a spouse who is ill will face the future. A diagnosis of early onset dementia can be particularly cruel when a husband or wife is relatively young. However, a spouse can find the situation at home equally unbearable. As a Whitefield divorce solicitor, I have advised a number of spouses who have contemplated separating or divorcing after there has been a diagnosis of dementia. Many are loath to take legal advice, as they fear judgement by family, a solicitor or the court. It is an impossible situation to be in and I recommend that legal advice is taken so that you know what your options are. Financial settlement and dementia If you decide to separate, it is important that you get specialist legal advice. This is because in some financial and pension circumstances it will be in both of your interests not to get divorced. In other financial and pension circumstances it will be important to get divorced, rather than just live apart, so the court can make a pension sharing order. When you are thinking about a separation or a divorce most people do not want to base their decision on whether to get divorced or not on financial considerations but the impact of not getting expert advice can have a massive impact on your retirement and personal and financial circumstances. Many people worry about how a dementia diagnosis will affect a financial settlement. The court takes a number of factors into account when deciding what a fair and reasonable financial settlement is. One of those factors is the health of the husband and wife. A dementia diagnosis means that a spouse’s needs will be carefully considered by the court. However, the court will aim to make a financial court order that meets the needs of both husband and wife. Dementia and taking part in divorce and financial settlement court proceedings People also worry about whether a spouse will understand divorce and financial proceedings and think that they cannot get divorced if their spouse cannot play a part in court proceedings and instruct a solicitor. If a spouse does not have capacity to instruct a solicitor or make decisions you can still get divorced and reach a financial settlement. That is because court rules provide for your spouse to be represented in the court proceedings and their interests protected. [related_posts] How can Evolve Family Law help? The decision to separate or divorce is never easy. It is even harder when a spouse is ill. In my experience as a Whitefield divorce solicitor, it is possible to divorce with dignity after a diagnosis of dementia as in many situations, whilst a spouse cannot cope sharing a home, they want their spouse to be provided for. The first step is to look into your options so you can make an informed decision about what is right for you. For advice about separation or divorce or financial settlement options please contact us.

Lifetime gifting is on the rise. That is not surprising, as nowadays children need a financial helping hand to get them on the property ladder. However, when parents give cash to their children they often do not know the UK rules on ‘’what is a lifetime gift’’. As Cheshire Wills and Probate solicitors, it is important to us that parents and other benefactors with estates that will be potentially liable to inheritance tax, as well as the children receiving the benefit of the lifetime UK gift, understand the complex inheritance tax rules so that they can make informed decisions. According to HMRC research, 13% of the UK population have made a lifetime gift of £1,000 or more in the last two years .Just under half of the lifetime gifters said that they did not know the inheritance tax rules on UK lifetime gifts before making the gift. What is a lifetime gift in the UK? The definition of a ‘’lifetime gift UK‘’ is relatively simple. It is a gift, given without ‘’strings‘’ or conditions for its return to a beneficiary during a donor’s lifetime. A gift made in a Will is a legacy that is only effective after the donor’s death. Cheshire Wills and Probate solicitors say that whilst the definition of a lifetime gift UK may be straightforward, inheritance tax rules on lifetime gifting are not. Lifetime gifting UK and the annual exemption and small gifts Current inheritance tax rules say a donor is entitled to give £3,000 in gifts each year exempt from inheritance tax. Lifetime gifting UK and the seven-year rule If a donor wants to give more than £3,000 away in a year, they can do so. However, unless the gift falls within one of the HMRC recognised exceptions, it could become subject to inheritance tax when the donor dies under the “seven-year rule”. For example, if a parent gives a child £40,000 for a house deposit then there may be an ‘‘inheritance tax time bomb’’ if the parent does not survive for seven years after the transfer of the gift. That is subject to size of the parent’s estate, the availability of the parent’s inheritance tax nil rate band for lifetime gifts and the residence nil rate band. Lifetime gifting UK and the small gifts exemption Cheshire Will and Private Client solicitors say that gifters are entitled to use the ‘’small gifts exemption’’ to give up to £250 to as many people as they choose. However, the small gift exemption cannot be used with the annual gift exemption. It also cannot be used to reduce large gifts made to an individual. Lifetime gifting UK, marriage, and civil partnership Under current rules, parents can give up to £5,000, grandparents £2,500, and anyone else £1,000 to a couple who are getting married or entering a civil partnership, without future inheritance tax consequences. Lifetime gifting UK to a spouse or civil partner Gifts to a spouse or civil partner are normally inheritance tax free, subject to the proviso that the couple must have the same domicile. If one partner is UK domiciled and the other is not, then complicated inheritance tax rules and exemptions apply. Lifetime gifting UK and normal expenditure out of income This exemption allows a donor to make regular gifts from surplus income (not from capital or the sale of property). Gifts from surplus income are inheritance tax free on death, even if the donor dies within seven years of transferring the gift. Cheshire Private Client solicitors recommend that professional advice is taken on the definition of “normal expenditure” and “income” to avoid future difficulties with proving that the gifts were made out of income and as part of the donor’s normal expenditure. [related_posts] Lifetime gifting UK and family maintenance The family maintenance exemption allows donors to make gifts for a spouse or civil partner’s maintenance or for the maintenance, training or education of children under eighteen, free of future inheritance tax. Lifetime gifting and exceptions Other major exception to lifetime gifting and potential payment of inheritance tax are lifetime gifting made to organisations, such as: Charities; Gifts to the nation for national purposes ; Political parties (if they qualify). Lifetime gifting UK legal advice Lifetime gifting is undoubtedly a lovely thing to do to help friends and family. However, Cheshire Wills and Private Client solicitors recommend that lifetime gifting should only be undertaken after taking detailed estate planning legal advice and once the potential inheritance tax implications are understood. Just as importantly, solicitors advise that lifetime gifting UK is not an alternative to preparing a Will. For help with lifetime gifting and estate planning or drawing up a new Will please contact our Will solicitors today.