Divorce can be a particularly stressful process to find
yourself in. Often cited as one of the most stressful life events possible to
experience, a separation can change everything from the dynamic of the family
to your own personal financial responsibilities.
Divorce can take its toll on your mental health, too.
People going through a divorce often thoroughly consider the financial impact
of a separation, but rarely the emotional turmoil. With that in mind, it’s
imperative to look after your physical and mental wellbeing after the event,
but also to do as much as possible to make the process smoother.
If you’re lucky enough to be going through an amicable
separation from a partner, then you may be in the unusual position of not
requiring the services that divorce lawyers provide. If both you and your
partner agree that a separation is for the best, you don’t have any children
together, you’ve been with each other for a short amount of time or you can
come to a collaborative agreement on your joint finances, then it may be the
case that you can work through your divorce with little to no legal advice.
However, things are rarely this simple when it comes to
matters of domestic law. If you have a child (particularly one under the age of
16), complicated financial arrangements, you’ve been in partnership for a long
period of time or one of you does not agree to the divorce, then it’s certainly
advisable to hire divorce lawyers to guide you through what can be a
complicated process. Here we detail just some of the ways in which a solicitors
firm specialising in family law can help you navigate a divorce.
The Process a Family
Solicitors Will Take You Through
A team of divorce lawyers will be there to facilitate and
guide divorce proceedings when no amicable separation can be found outside of
court. There are five main grounds for divorce that need to be met for a
solicitor to initially prove that a marriage has disintegrated irretrievably.
These are adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion, two years separation
with consent or five years separation without consent.
At the start of the process, the applicant’s solicitor files
a petition for divorce under one or more of the above grounds. To file the
petition, the court will need an original copy of the marriage certificate, as
well as a Statement of Reconciliation which confirms whether the topic of
trying to save the marriage has already been discussed.
Following this, an Acknowledgement of Service form is
completed and sent back to the court for review and subsequently applies for a
Decree Nisi, which is a document that says the court has no reason to deny the
divorce.
Once these forms have been reviewed by a judge, the
applicants should apply for a Decree Absolute which is again processed and
then, once that has passed, the divorce is complete. This process will not take
any less than six weeks in total.
How Can Family Law
Solicitors Help You Divide Your Finances
The above section is just a brief overlook of the entire
divorce process, however, there are often many contentious issues to navigate.
One of the key issues in any divorce is how finances and assets will be split
between both parties. This can be complex and sensitive, which is why hiring
experienced divorce lawyers is a useful way to remove some of the stress.
There are no strict guidelines as to when a divorce lawyer
should be called in to help split finances and assets, however, if there is
anything that you and your spouse do not agree on then you should get
individual representation to protect each of your interests.
Even if you do both agree, but you haven’t filled in the
relevant paperwork via a solicitor, the agreement will not be legally binding
and therefore a court cannot enforce it. To make an agreement legally binding
you’ll first have to get a solicitor to write a consent order and then have
that ratified by the court.
If you don’t agree on how the finances should be split, then
seeking legal advice is imperative to ensure that the just course of action is
found. The first port of call might be hiring what’s called a ‘mediator’. This
independent person will be able to help both parties agree on how to split
money and property. If a decision is made through this process then that result
can be ratified through a court.
If an agreement still isn’t found, you can ask a court to
make a financial order. This must be applied for once you’ve started the
paperwork, but before you’ve applied for the decree absolute. This financial
order can grant you a lump sum payment, regular maintenance payments, a share
of your partner’s pension or ownership of a property.
The judge will decide on how property and financial assets
will be split based on the length of the marriage, each party’s ability to earn
and the role within the relationship i.e a stay at home parent or breadwinner
amongst other parameters. To ensure that you get the best result from this
process, it’s important to have a solicitor on hand to guide you.
What Does a Divorce
Lawyer Do In Matters of Child Custody
Matters of child custody, understandably, can be a very
sensitive subject within a divorce. There is far more emotion to this decision
than with assets, however, much of the same process applies.
You and your spouse can avoid a messy court proceeding if
you can agree on where the child will live, when they will see each parent and
how the child maintenance will be paid for. Again, to come to an agreement, a
mediator can be employed to talk through the contentious issues and arrive at
an amicable middle ground.
It’s when this process falls apart that a court must get
involved. You can apply for what’s called a ‘child arrangements order’ which
will dictate where a child lives as well as what types of contact can take
place between each parent and their child. A ‘specific issue order’ can also be
used to guide how the child is brought up i.e which school they would go to.
During a court hearing, a judge will encourage you to find
an agreement that’s in the child’s best interest, but they’ll also explore
whether the child is at risk and any concerns about his or her welfare. The
court will always put the welfare of the child first and will consider their
educational needs, the child’s wishes, the child’s age, the ability of each
parent to care for the child and the impact that a drastic change might have on
the child.
In this extremely sensitive circumstance, a divorce lawyer
will be able to help you get the right result for the child. If you have been
in an abusive relationship, or your ex-partner has a mental or physical
condition, which means that they cannot effectively raise your child, then a
solicitor will be able to present this to the court. They will also be able to
handle any and all relevant paperwork and submit them to the deadline to ensure
that the child is affected as little as possible throughout the process.
Who We Are
Hawley & Rogers has been helping families since 1939 as
a solicitor firm specialising in family, children, property, wills &
probate and commercial law. We have extensive knowledge and expertise in our
fields so that we can give you some of the best legal representation in the
area.
We’re committed to our customer service and won’t bog you
down with jargon. We’ll always listen to you and communicate as transparently
as possible to ensure that every customer is treated the same.
If you’d like to find out more about our legal
services, including our
domestic
law
services,
contact
us. We have five offices in Loughborough, Nottingham,
Bingham, Long Eaton and Stapleford.
