It is 12 years since two colleagues and I brought collaborative law to Sheffield. In 2005, I heard about an alternative family law practice that was being introduced in England, following success in Canada and North America. I attended a training course in Manchester and these two days changed my Read more…
The decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of Hugh and Tini Owens on 24th March 2017 is a backward step in divorce law in England and Wales. The Court of Appeal upheld a ruling in the lower court dismissing Mrs Owens’ divorce petition based on her husband’s Read more…
On Valentine’s day the Court of Appeal started hearing a very unusual case as a Judge in the lower court refused to allow a wife’s unreasonable behaviour divorce petition to proceed. After a long marriage Mrs Tini Owens commenced divorce proceedings based on what she viewed as her husband Hugh’s unreasonable Read more…
I remember preparing a Divorce Petition for a new client and starting to feel sad for the client. Not because their marriage has broken down. Not because they were faced with the prospect of trying to reach an agreement with their now ex-husband about arrangements for their children and long term Read more…
It’s inevitable that divorce will feel like the end of something, but the way you divorce can help you see a way forward and feel instead that you are approaching the start of something new. It can be hard to see, when wounds are still raw and everything feels uncertain, Read more…
In September 2016 the Ministry of Justice published a paper entitled “Transforming Our Justice System”. The document, described as a “joint vision statement”, sets out various proposals to make the administration of justice more efficient and accessible across the board. The digitisation of court processes is part and parcel of Read more…
This often the initial reaction we get from people when we first mention the idea of collaborative law and whether it could be right for them. And it’s perfectly understandable. You’ve separated from your husband, wife or partner. Emotions are running high. It’s an incredibly difficult time, and the thought Read more…
The court fee for obtaining a divorce or civil partnership dissolution is set to rise from £410 to £550 from April 2016.This is an increase of over 34%. In an initial consultation on court fees the Government wanted to raise the fee up to £750, a whopping 80% increase. This idea Read more…
This week (23 to 27 November 2015) is ‘Dispute Resolution Week’ organised by our representative body Resolution, formerly the Solicitors’ Family Law Association. This is the fourth year of the campaign which is designed to publicise and promote ways of resolving family disputes without going to court. For many years Read more…
In April 2015 the deputy president of the Supreme Court, Baroness Hale, called for reform of the current divorce law. Unless the parties to a marriage have been separated for more than two years, the law requires that one party makes allegations that the other has either behaved unreasonably or Read more…