Dealing with the breakdown of a relationship is challenging and life-changing, particularly if there are children or jointly-owned assets involved. If you are involved in a relationship breakdown, it is crucial to know where you stand and what your options are.
We can help at any stage of relationship breakdown, including at the early stages when reconciliation may still be possible through mediation or counselling. We assist clients in implementing temporary measures in those circumstances to ensure that practical issues like finances and custody of or access to children do not jeopardise their situation.
We advise and represent clients in all aspects of relationship breakdown and family law, from custody and access arrangements to maintenance, separation and divorce. We appear for clients in seeking and defending court applications for domestic violence orders. We negotiate settlement arrangements on behalf of clients where possible and advise clients about mediated agreements.
We also act for unmarried clients in establishing and asserting their rights as cohabitants and in drafting cohabitation and co-ownership agreements. We have acted in a number of the early cases involving court applications under the cohabitants law introduced in 2010.
Sample experience
- Negotiating custody, access and maintenance agreements.
- Representing clients in court applications for custody and access.
- Making court applications to appoint unmarried fathers as guardians of infant children.
- Advising grandparents in relation to access rights.
- Successfully objecting to guardianship and access applications on behalf of a victim of domestic violence.
- Negotiating separation agreements and divorces.
- Representing clients in separation and divorce cases before the court.
- Obtaining domestic violence orders on behalf of partners and on behalf of parents against children.
- Defending the estate of a high net worth individual against a claim for provision from an alleged cohabiting partner.
- Bringing a claim against an unmarried partner for provision after the conclusion of a relationship.
- Advising same sex couples on guardianship and parenthood.
- Advising couples on cohabitation and co-ownership agreements.