Digital assets: How are they dealt with on divorce?
Digital (or crypto) assets now form part of many people’s financial portfolios. They are commonplace and many are routinely investing in digital assets to diversify their investments. Recent reports have indicated that one in ten people in the UK have some form of crypto asset. The role of the metaverse in the future in how […]
Proposed surrogacy reforms ‘recognise how times have changed’
Surrogacy laws were written nearly half a century ago. This valuable new report on reforms recognises how times have changed. Becoming a parent is one of the most significant events in many people’s lives and for some they may choose to consider the option of surrogacy. Surrogacy is when a woman carries and gives birth […]
Making Digital Real | Tip #2 – LinkedIn algorithms
Here, Mike Roberts of Making Digital Real and FRAMA UK explains how to keep the LinkedIn algorithm on your side. This follows the first video which looked at the incredible potential of LinkedIn business pages.
The Ombudsman’s Corner: June 2023
This month, I want to talk about our Technical Advice service. We are committed to being accessible to our stakeholders, so we decided to set up a dedicated email address technical.advice@legalombudsman.org.uk in November 2021 for service providers to contact us to obtain advice and guidance on a range of issues relating to complaints, complaints handling […]
Getting paid your true worth
The True Worth Expert Vanessa Ugatti joins host David Opie on the latest Today’s Family Lawyer Podcast. Vanessa works with professional services individual and organisations to help them understand their true value, and explain that better to clients to help them get paid their true worth, unapologetically. In her work Vanessa sees individuals and organisations […]
Divorce in best interests?
The recent decision of D v S [2023] EWCOP 8 / [2023] EWFC 23 has provided a welcome opportunity for consideration of whether a divorce can be pursued in an individual’s best interests. Joanna Crichton, Legal Director in our Healthcare and Public Law team, represented D’s litigation friend in the Court of Protection proceedings whilst Sarah McCarthy, Senior Chartered […]
In the Yellow Chair: One lawyer, one couple – and one coach?
This month’s In the Yellow Chair column sees Tom Nash – also known as Mr Divorce Coach – look into the rise of ‘one lawyer, one couple’ models In previous years, the idea of ‘one lawyer, one couple’ has been seen as unfeasible. Why do you think this has changed? There are several factors at […]
Work life matters: Career paths
It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of making an assumption that every lawyer is following the well-trodden path to Partnership – via many years of PQE and a fair degree of hard work, long hours and high performance (and luck). This trap presents itself at the outset of a legal career. The […]
No-fault divorce: A long time coming, but worth the wait
There is an ancient English tradition, now copied in fairgrounds, by which people who have done something wrong should be tied up to a wooden stake and have objects thrown at them. This would lead to general merriment for the spectators; and to misery for the person used as the object of the humiliation. I […]
‘Handsy’ colleagues and ‘boozy’ events: Where is the line?
The legal sector is changing. 100 years on from Carrie Morrison’s qualification as the first female solicitor, women now make up 53% of practising solicitors and 69% of applicants to law schools. The profession is made up of different races, religions, ages, genders, sexes; it welcomes the disabled and champions the neurodiverse. However, as is […]
How are businesses dealt with on divorce?
In divorce proceedings, the value of a business and its income will be regarded as an accessible resource of the marriage. It is important to clarify that this doesn’t automatically mean that the family court will mandate the sale of the business. In fact, the court acknowledges that the loss of the business’s income could […]
Career development top tips for junior lawyers in family teams
It can be a daunting journey when you first start your career as a family lawyer. Even when you qualify, you are beginning another new journey. You don’t instantly become a successful family lawyer overnight. At nearly five years qualified I’m still very much on my journey, but here are some tips that I feel […]
Divorcing together with one lawyer
With the one-year anniversary of No Fault Divorce having passed earlier this year, leading family lawyer Gemma Hope from Family Law Partners, tells how its practice is bucking the trend by encouraging clients to save money and take a more ‘agreeable’ route to divorce. With on average 42% of marriages ending in divorce, and the average […]
Diary of a Legal Aid Lawyer: Refuges
Clarity – and some relief – for residents and staff of refuges Anyone who has worked in the area of domestic abuse for any length of time will be relieved at the sensible and well thought through judgment of Sir Andrew McFarlane in Re P (Service on Parents in a Refuge) [2023] EWHC 471 (Fam) […]
MHAW: Raising mental health awareness in the legal sector
Mental Health Awareness Week is an annual event observed in many places around the world. The aim of this week is to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. Although it is highlighted as a only a week to reflect on, it is something that […]
Time to call ceasefire on divorce battle language
Words have meaning, and the way we use them matters. Take words like “bitter”, “battle”, “fight”, “anger”, “revenge” – all could aptly be used to describe seismic conflicts from human history. But rather than pulling them from the Wikipedia page about the Battles of Hastings in 1066 or Waterloo in 1815, they are instead a […]
Legal language service providers – a guide for family lawyers
Family lawyers increasingly work with clients with family ties and legal documents from all over the world. Supporting clients at some of the most vulnerable times in their lives, having access to the right legal language service provider is essential to ensure no interests and assets are misrepresented, and decisions are made on accurate interpretations […]
Court of Appeal provides guidance on mobile phone extraction in family proceedings
Court of Appeal provides guidance on relevant principles and approach to directions for mobile phone extraction in family proceedings All things being as they should be, mobile phone evidence will find its way into proceedings in the family court via the police, who will have seized and extracted mobile phone data as part of their […]
The Ombudsman’s Corner: May 2022
When we recently updated our Scheme Rules, we made an amendment to Section 2 – “Who can complain about what”, to include a new section which clarifies that a complaint can be brought to us where the service has been provided to an estate of a person who is deceased where the complainant is a […]
Case commentary: A v B & C [2023] EWCA Civ 360
It is sadly not uncommon for family practitioners to encounter cases where there are allegations of rape and sexual misconduct perpetrated by one party during the course of a relationship. In the context of private law proceedings, the Court is often called upon to consider these allegations and their impact in relation to child arrangements. […]