In the UK, family law is an area of the law that is concerned with family disputes and sets out a legal framework for some domestic relations including:
- Marriages and civil partnerships;
- Any future issues associated with the above including: adoption, domestic violence, child abuse, child abduction etc.
- Procedures for termination of marriages and civil partnerships along with any ancillary matters such as disputes over assets, parental responsibility orders and validity of marriage.
The UK family law consists of three separate jurisdictions including Scotland, Northern Ireland and England and Wales. In England and Wales, families are usually represented by family law solicitors and cases are heard before County Courts and Family Proceedings Courts. The legal procedure is regulated by the Family Procedure Rules.
Family Solicitors London – Services
It is important to ensure that your domestic and family legal affairs are taken care of, as it may save you trouble in the event of disputes or even death. If you are looking for a family law solicitor in London, Family Solicitors London can help you with the following:
- Financial disagreements between unmarried partners
- Preparation of cohabitation agreements
- Preparation of parental responsibility agreements
- Disputes over custody of children and child maintenance payments
- Disputes over will and trusts
- Prenuptial agreements
- Name changes
- Power of attorney
- Advice on family trusts
Family Trusts
Family Solicitors London specialise in family trusts. You may want to set up a family trust for a number of reasons:
- You may want to give your child a substantial asset. If the child is too young to effectively manage it by himself or herself by creating a family trust the child can benefit from the asset whilst it remains managed by somebody else.
- Family trusts offer time efficient and cost effective alternative to distribution of assets by probate. Assets subject to a family trust, upon the death of the settlor, are immediately transferred to the trustees and beneficiaries do not have to wait as in the case of probate.
Types of Trusts
Family Solicitors London can help you with the following types of trusts:
- Fixed Trust – in fixed trusts all the beneficiaries are clearly specified with exact proportions to which they are entitled.
- Discretionary Trust – while discretionary trusts name the beneficiaries, the trustees are given discretion as to who gets what.
- Interest in Possession Trust – this type of trusts gives one person lifetime interest, which then upon their death passes to another person.
- Protective Trust – protective trusts are designed to secure capital or the main asset by providing the beneficiary with interest from the capital or the asset while the asset remains in somebody else’s legal control.
Prenuptial Agreements
Prenuptial agreements are relatively new to the English legal system. Nonetheless, in view of the recent developments they are becoming more commonly used and enforceable. Family Solicitors London can help you analyse your legal position and provide tailored prenuptial agreement to ensure that your assets, in the event of divorce, are protected against jurisdiction of divorce courts.
A good example of how prenuptial agreements work is the case in which they were first recognised as legally binding. In the case of Katrin Radmacher, she hired family law solicitors to ensure that her £106m fortune was protected by a prenuptial agreement. When her marriage broke down the court held the agreement as valid and her ex-husband was not entitled to financially benefit from the marriage break down.
Enforceability Criteria
To ensure legal enforceability of the document, the following criteria should be satisfied by every prenuptial agreement:
- The agreement must be entered consensually without any duress. Typically, agreements should be entered into at least twenty-one days before the ceremony.
- The parties must be fully transparent regarding their financial affairs.
- Both parties must obtain separate independent advice regarding the agreement.
- The agreement must be written in a fair and reasonable manner and not put any party at a disadvantage.
- The agreement must contain provisions concerning any existing and future children.
Alicia Cenizo – Head of family law
It is not possible to list full list of services offered by family solicitors London, our lawyers have extensive experience in all of the above lawyers and are willing to help you legally secure your position in the event of any family law dispute.