Month: January 2021

Solicitor firms could face enforcement by the profession’s regulator if they do not register their tax advice work under new anti-money-laundering (AML) obligations, the Law Society of England and Wales has cautioned. Earlier this month, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) stated that solicitors had until 10 January to check if any tax advice work they […]Read More

Marilyn Stowe is one of the UK’s best known family lawyers. She founded and sold the UK’s largest family law firm in 2017. She takes a look at whether working from home will last forever. I wore an Alexander McQueen cream and black tweed suit with sky high black patent heels, to sign away ownership […]Read More

Victims of domestic abuse can now use a special code word to alert staff in pharmacies across the country that they require help. Abuse victims can now “Ask for Ani” in pharmacies, including Boots stores, across the UK to signal they need help and support. The scheme was set up to give victims an opportunity […]Read More

The number of legal professionals contacting the charity LawCare for emotional support continues to rise year on year, with 738 legal professionals seeking help in 2020, a rise of 9% on the previous year. The charity received 964 calls, webchats, and emails to their support service in 2020. The most common problems cited were stress […]Read More

The Government has published a new nationwide strategy in a bid to protect children from all forms of child sexual abuse. The ‘Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy’ sets out our whole-system response to all forms of child sexual abuse to stop offenders. In regards to details of the strategy, The Home Office state: “This strategy […]Read More

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has stated that the national lockdown will remain in effect until early March at the earliest, as the UK comes to terms with the news that we have surpassed 100,000 deaths. During Prime Minister’s Querstions, he told the House of Commons that schools would be the first part of society to […]Read More

It has been reported on the Cafcass website that Caroline Corby has resigned from the Cafcass Board, having served since December 2014, most recently as Interim Deputy Chair since March 2020. She is also Chair of the Cafcass Performance and Quality Committee and these roles will now be taken up by other experienced members of […]Read More

With the release of draft guidance on anti-money laundering guidance on 20 January 2021, there has been a furry of conversation about what this means.  Amy Bell from Teal Compliance, has shared her recent blog with the readers of Today’s Family Lawyer to share her thoughts on the new draft guidance. Since 2017 LSAG have […]Read More

Hiding assets and not disclosing full details of wealth attracts serious penalties in the UK, including contempt of court, potential imprisonment and perjury. However; the penalties are rarely enforced, which results in many people hiding their marital wealth from their spouse, or civil partner, prior to launching divorce proceedings. The financially weaker party is then […]Read More

The Legal Sector Affinity Group (LSAG), which includes all UK legal sector professional bodies and supervisors, has completed an extensive revision and redraft of its anti-money laundering (AML) guidance. This replaces previous versions of the guidance and is currently pending approval by HM Treasury, although the guidance is currently available in draft form. This draft […]Read More

Law firms are gaining the equivalent of an extra 20 working days a year from employees putting in longer shifts when they work from home, according to new research from Atlas Cloud. The research reveals that by working from home during the Coronavirus pandemic, instead of commuting to an office, employees in the sector are saving an […]Read More

A mother of two children has won a legal battle by claiming a slice of a £8 million property empire against her ex-partner who was in prison for 20 years. While behind bars, for two decades, Mr Collins sent letters promising that she would have a stake in the property portfolio. Nicola Oberman, 53, took […]Read More

Professor Dame Hazel Genn will be interviewed by Baroness Halle in a special ‘This is your Life’ event to explore the highlights of her career to date and her thoughts on the future. This event will be looking in particular at the importance of the judiciary for equal societies, how we can tackle structural inequalities […]Read More

A new year, often means a new start, and here at Today’s Family Lawyer, we wanted to share with you the good news we’ve had within in the industry of professionals joining firms and those who have moved up the promotional ladder. This week we’ve seen the following announcements with regards to appointments and promotions: […]Read More

Cafcass has published updated guidance which outlines the arrangements that are currently being made for Family Court Advisers to see children and families, work in Cafcass offices and attend court. The Cafcass guidance has been updated due to the current Government national lockdown restrictions which have been put in place. This guidance will continue to […]Read More

The past year has caused each of us to reflect on what is most important in our lives. Family. Friends. Freedom. It has also made us look forward, to life post-pandemic; and this, along with the pressures of lockdown, home-schooling, and everything else 2020 had to chuck at us, has understandably resulted in lots of […]Read More

Our ‘Technical Corner’ brings you information that will help you to continue to grow and develop in your career. This month’s technical corner article comes from Paul Saunders, Managing Director at Legal Eye If you have any questions for our panel of experts, please submit them using the contact form below. We will publish the […]Read More

HM Courts and Tribunal Services have provided online financial remedy services guides for family law professionals.  The guides describes the steps on how to use online financial remedy services using MyHMCTS platform. These guides describe the steps you need to use for financial remedy. The two guides provided are: Onboarding guidance – consent Onboarding guidance […]Read More

Now that we are in lockdown 3, many separated parents have managed to establish a routine and ground rules to enable their children to move between their two homes, perhaps even between two countries. However, the roll out of the vaccine brings a potential new area of dispute, which the family court dealt with recently […]Read More