A warning for over-enthusiastic divorce lawyers this week. Please read slowly and carefully because it’s difficult to keep up with the twists and turns on this one. In what was billed as a test case, celebrity chef Marco Pierre-White has won a (very) public apology from his wife’s divorce lawyers. The couple are still married [...]
Divorce and EastEnders. What a dreadful union. I am not an avid viewer of soaps and my limited knowledge of EastEnders suggests it is regarded as having a fairly depressing outlook on life with sensationalist storylines. I did then fear the worst when I heard that a divorce storyline was central to episodes last week [...]
Divorce is rarely funny, so I think it is a real testament to our British sense of humour that we can find things to laugh about in separation. These days, you are as likely to hear a comedian joke about pre-nups or division of assets as tell tales about the mother in law. Listening to [...]
How do you keep a relationship exciting and fulfilling? If I could answer that question, I would be very comfortably off indeed and probably writing this on my own island, sipping a glass of wine from my own French vineyard. I don’t know how many times I have spoken to a man or woman going [...]
It is no secret that fewer people are getting married. In 2009, the latest (provisional) figures available (again statisticians, why the delay?) 231, 490 couples said “I do”, the lowest since 1895. To put it another way, 8.4 people per 1,000 in 2009 compared to 8.7 in 2008. Neither is it a secret that the [...]
RSPCA launched a campaign last week called PetRetreat. It’s a fostering service for pets effectively. A network of fosterers can look after a person’s cats, dogs or whatever, so that they can escape domestic violence. Once they are settled in a new life, they can claim back their pet. The move came because some victims [...]
ADR seems to be a new buzz word in family law at the moment. Alternative Dispute Resolution has been mentioned much in context of family mediation, as mediation is an example of ADR. However, an alternative route to mediation is collaborative divorce. I’ve talked about collaborative family law a number of times before but I think [...]
I always watch the Budget with interest. The pantomime that goes with it is often as entertaining as any comedy programme you’ll see on television. There are villains, cheers, boos and backstabbing. It is particularly entertaining coming soon after a general election where there has been a change of the guard. The former Government is [...]
As April 6 looms ever closer, the more we can understand about the impact of the New Family Law Procedure Rules 2010, the better. I think people do have a perception that the law is, more often than not, black and white. Guilty/not guilty. Divorced/married. It follows therefore that lawyers should all be very clear [...]
I read about a survey last week which suggests that an increasing number of parents are reluctant to leave money to their married children in case they get divorced and the other party gets their hands on a chunk of it. The research shows 35 per cent of parents had concerns and did not want [...]