As family law solicitors, we work to make things easier for you by giving you all assistance and guidance needed to fully understand the legal and practical consequences of the breakdown of your relationship. Family law solicitors act on issues such as divorce, child contact, financial settlements, and Local Authority care orders.

If the parents cannot agree on residency of their child, the courts will decide residency based on the child’s best interests. To determine the child’s best interest, numerous factors will be considered.

Parental responsibility refers to your legal responsibilities and rights as a parent. Parental responsibility involves making decisions on all important aspects of a child’s upbringing, such as  making decisions about where your child goes to school and deciding what medical treatment they receive.

In a private law context, the Court has the jurisdiction to make Child Arrangement Orders regulating with whom a child or children shall live with and spend time with. The Court may also grant Prohibited Steps Order preventing an act taking place in relation to a child and Specific Issue Orders determining a particular issue in respect of a child’s upbringing where parents cannot reach an agreement. In a public law context, the Court may make Supervision and Care Orders (including interim orders). A Supervision Order involves placing a child under the supervision of the Local Authority, but without parental responsibility. The child remains with the parents with the local authority being legally obliged to offer support and assistance to the child and his/her family. An Interim Care Order is a temporary care order which gives social services parental responsibility for a child, which they then share with the parents. An Interim order gives social services authority in deciding where a child will live while the court proceedings are continuing.

Contact rights are the right of the children and not the parent. The rebuttal presumption that it is in a child’s best interests to have contact with both parents is embodied within the Children Act 1989. What this means is that as long as there is no safety risk to the child, contact will most likely be ordered by the court in some form, but this may include direct, indirect and forms of supervised contact. It is recommended to negotiate contact arrangements through direct discussions or by attending mediation to agree on the best contact agreement moving forwards for a child. However, if you cannot agree, an application can be made to the court.

The Family Court has the jurisdiction to make Occupation Order and/or Non-molestation Orders to protect you from domestic violence. An Occupation Order relates to who can live in the family home and can also restrict access to the surrounding area. A Non-molestation Order prevents a person from being violent or threatening violence against you or your child, including intimidation, pestering or harassment.

How much a family law solicitor will cost depends on each case as there’s no one size fits all approach. Alexander JLO’s (AJLO) family law solicitors will always provide you with a clear cost estimate, with transparency around costs so there will be no cost surprises.

Unless you reach an agreed position with your spouse, 50% of matrimonial assets cannot be confirmed. If this proceeds to court, an equal share of assets is a starting position, but the court may adjust this if other factors suggest unequal division of assets and the Court has a very wide discretion in determining the division of marital assets following divorce.