HMCTS webinar: introducing the new online divorce service
HMCTS are hosting a webinar at 1pm – 2pm on Tuesday 12th April to walk through our new online divorce service. Introduced as a result of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2022, we’ll cover how the new service: was developed with stakeholders will be extended in the future can be improved with your feedback […]
No Fault Divorce – The wider impact on legal proceedings?
The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, which was passed into law on 25 June 2020 but will not come into effect until Spring 2022, will see an end to the blame game on divorce. Currently divorcing couplies cannot bring their marriage to an end unless they wait for two years (by consent) or five […]
Government urged to reform “hostile” family separation process
The British Government is being urged to help thousands of children whose mental health is put at risk when families separate, because parents are left to “square up” rather than “sit down” and seek an amicable solution. Senior lawyers, judges, academics, charities and family welfare professionals are calling on Government to fill the current policy […]
Lawyers slam £593 divorce fee
Speaking to The Law Society Gazette, several lawyers have criticised the current divorce fee of £593 with the process set to change following divorce reforms planned for next month. The “no-fault” divorce provisions contained within the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act aim to make the process quicker and less acrimonious. This, combined with it being […]
Judge brands wife’s s25 statement “completely unacceptable”
The Family Court judge in WC v HC (Financial Remedies Agreement), Mr Justice Peel, has called for parties to stop making personal attacks on their ex-partners using s25 statements. Mr Peel reminded parties within his introductory comments that “s25 statements must only contain evidence, and ‘on no account should contain argument or other rhetoric’”. He […]
DWP publishes child maintenance guide
A guide on child maintenance has been published by the Department for Work and Pensions. The new guide informs users how to create and manage a child maintenance arrangement, and also includes information about action that may be taken if a party does not pay, as well as how to contact the Child Maintenance Service. […]
Small firms and BME solicitors may be “shut out” by comparison sites
Law Society vice president Lubna Shuja has suggested that small law firms – in which a disproportionate number of BME solicitors work – could be at risk of being “shut out” should regulators force all solicitors to appear on comparison sites. Last year, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) conducted a pilot study on comparison sites […]
Legal world unites to help tackle cyber threat
A new standardised form questionnaire designed to help law firms better assess the cybersecurity arrangements of the Chambers whose barristers they instruct was launched on Friday at the Law Society’s Risk and Compliance Conference by a joint Law Society of England and Wales and Bar Council working group, representing barristers, leading law firms and IT […]
