Family Law

Family problems bring with them a great deal of emotional stress, and when all other avenues other than the Law are exhausted people need the calm, reassuring professionalism of an experienced lawyer to advise and guide them through a traumatic time.

Our Family Law Team is highly experienced with a very sympathetic approach at a time of great emotional worry. We are members of the Law Society Advanced Family Law Panel, the Law Society Children's Panel and Resolution (an organisation with a specific code of practice for family law), to which we adhere.

We offer practical, immediate help and advice in all areas of Family Law, including the areas shown below:

- Divorce
- Separation
- Cohabitation Disputes
- Child Disputes
- Property and Asset Division
- Domestic Violence
- Cohabitation Agreements
- Pre-Nuptial Agreement

We will explain anything that is unclear, or answer further questions you may have.

The following sections will provide you with further details of some key areas dealt with by our Family Law team:

Divorce and Separation
Children
Ancillary Relief

Almost inevitably there are financial strains when a relationship breaks up, increasing the worry of an already stressful situation. For Further details of the availability of Legal Aid please follow this link

Legal Aid

Divorce and Separation

It is a sad fact of life that relationships often breakdown. This can obviously have a wide spread effect on the immediate family and also on the wider family unit.

Each individual must come to terms with the breakdown of the relationship on an emotional level but they also need support and guidance in sorting out the legal side of things. Scaiff LLP can offer advice about the options available and help you to make an informed decision about what to do next. We are here to help, not to make a judgement.

Scaiff LLP is able to provide clear and objective advice and sensitive help with all problems in this area of the law, which often require specialist and discrete guidance. Our solicitors have a depth of expertise and experience in divorce, separation, the financial consequences of relationship breakdown, cohabitation, pre-marital agreements, and children proceedings.

Our aim is to provide expert legal advice and representation to enable clients to be sure of their rights and help them to reach an agreement. Our professional yet personal service provides peace of mind and sensible pro-active solutions to the difficulties that can arise through separation and divorce.

Children

Generally, the children are of the highest importance to both parents during separation, but unfortunately, all too often, the hurt and anxiety spills over on to them and the children can become an object to fight over.

There can even be further difficulties when a parent is threatened with a child being taken into the care of social services. Members of our family law department specialise in the arrangements for children, financial provision and adoption of children. The law is such that, generally, both parents are kept involved with the children and the parents are encouraged to agree contact arrangements between them. When parents can't agree, the courts intervene to decide issues in the best interests of the children, with their welfare being of paramount importance.

The most common Orders that the Court can make are as follows:-

Residence orders

A court order determining who a child should live with. The court could order that a child should live with someone other than its parent. This carries parental responsibility for the length of the order.

Contact orders

A court order directing that a child should or should not have specified contact with a particular person. Contact orders can impose conditions on the contact e.g. to take place at a particular venue or with someone else present.

Specific issue order

An order determining a particular issue for a child which is in dispute between the responsible adults e.g. which school a child should attend, what religion they should be brought up in, whether or not they should have an operation, etc

Prohibited Steps order

An order preventing someone doing a named thing in relation to a child e.g. an order to prevent the removal of a child from a particular person, or an order to prevent a child being removed from the country.

Ancillary Relief

Ancillary Relief refers to the court proceedings that take place, once divorce proceedings have been issued, to settle the financial position between both parties. Usually, these proceedings do not lead to a full hearing and are merely a means by which parties can reach an agreed settlement with reference to and guidance from the courts.

Legal Aid

Legal Aid is financial support provided by the Legal Services Commission to cover the costs of the advice and support that you receive from a solicitor.

Scaiff LLP is contracted with the Legal Services Commission and is therefore able to obtain funding for those that meet the eligibility criteria. At your initial consultation this option will be discussed in more detail.

External Resources

You may wish to consider visiting the Amicable Divorce website for more information.

This is an external website and Scaiff and Co. can take no responisbility for its content.