H = Husband - W = Wife
I acted for H in this case having been instructed in place of solicitors he had used for his divorce, financial and Children Act matters up to that point. H and W had two children who lived with W and who saw H from time to time. H understood well the paramount importance of putting the children’s needs first and instructed me to negotiate with W’s solicitor to develop and improve contact with his 2 children with a view to achieving shared residence. H did not want to go down the route of an application to Court to settle matters as he was mindful of the costs that could involve and the difficulties of dealing with a case concerning children in a Court environment. This case was assisted greatly by the balanced and considerate involvement of W’s solicitor who worked closely with W to address her concerns. After a matter of months, H and W were able to liaise directly in matters concerning the children without further need for solicitors and reached agreement as to a shared residence arrangement for the children on a civilised and mutually respectful basis. The outcome of this case achieved H’s hopes for increased contact and residence arrangements but also improved communications between him and W for the future. When parties involved with children are able to concentrate on their children’s needs and communicate directly with each other, solutions can be effective, lasting and more easily reached.
H = Husband - W = Wife
I acted for W in this case who had been divorced from H some years previously and was awarded child and spousal maintenance at that time. W was not concerned to increase the level of the spousal maintenance payments but simply to ensure that they were reinstated as H had discontinued payments to her. I corresponded with H’s solicitors for some while, openly answering their questions with every intention of reaching a prompt agreement for the benefit of both parties, thereby avoiding the need to go to Court. W was in increasingly poor health and considerable arrears in maintenance payments were building up. It became clear that matters would not be resolved without an application to Court and I made an application, therefore, to the Magistrates’ Court to register the Maintenance Order as a debt. H then promptly attended to settling the arrears of maintenance due and reinstated spousal maintenance. This outcome delivered precisely the financial security which W sought and needed whilst keeping costs down as far as possible. Whilst it is regrettable when parties cannot settle matters on an amicable basis, it is important that, as in this case, prompt and decisive action is taken when needed.
H = Husband - W = Wife
I acted for H in this case which started out with straightforward instructions to act in the parties’ divorce and related financial matters. Both parties were foreign nationals who were working in the UK and had both worked and lived in various countries around the world. W used solicitors on occasion and also, on occasion, acted for herself. As the credit crunch worsened, the parties’ principal asset, the matrimonial home, dropped in value and considerable negotiation was required to broker an agreement between the parties for the sharing of assets. To move matters forward, the financial aspect of the divorce was placed before the Court and I worked closely with H’s barrister, who was fluent in H’s mother tongue. The parties finally reached agreement in this matter and H was pleased that he retained the former matrimonial home with no ongoing maintenance obligation to his former wife. I was later involved with paperwork to progress H’s divorce abroad in order that he could remarry. The key issue in this case was agreeing the extent and value of the parties’ assets. Once parties have a clear sense of what they can achieve financially on divorce, a realistic outcome is more likely to follow.