There are very limited circumstances in which a financial order can be set aside. The power to set aside an order only exists where no error of the court is alleged. In those cases where an error of the court is alleged then an application for permission to appeal should be considered.

The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, often known as Clare’s Law, was rolled out across England and Wales on 8th March 2014. It is designed to provide victims with information that may protect them from an abusive situation before it ends in tragedy. The scheme allows the police to disclose information about a partner’s previous history of domestic violence or violent acts.

If you have reached the decision your marriage is at an end and are looking at commencing divorce proceedings, this can appear to be a stressful and confusing task. However, submitting a Divorce Petition should not be a daunting process.

Often a pension can be a valuable asset to take into account, particularly when one spouse is contributing a lot more into their pension fund. Irrespective of who the pension belongs to, it is still a marital asset and will be treated as any other asset would be, and it must be considered in divorce proceedings.

A Non-Molestation Order can be applied to put a stop to domestic abuse to help protect you and to ensure the safety and wellbeing and health of you and your children. Domestic abuse can include the following:

The term ‘divorce costs’ can be unclear and, to the person being asked to pay those costs, it can be confusing.

Since the early 1970’s the Courts have been required to take into account the value of any pension held by both parties to a divorce in determining their financial settlement. However, before the introduction of pension sharing, it was not possible to transfer either the value of the pension benefit or the benefits themselves from the scheme member who owned the benefits to another person.

Grandparents do not have any automatic legal rights in respect of their grandchildren but they can seek the court’s permission to make an application for a Child Arrangements Order (“contact”). Before they do this it is highly recommended that grandparents try to make contact with their grandchildren’s parent(s) or guardian(s) to discuss the possibility of regular contact.

Cohabiting couples often assume that living together creates similar rights and responsibilities as marriage. This is often known as a “common law marriage”.  The concept of a common law marriage has no legal validity and in reality moving in with a partner does not give an individual automatic rights to each other’s property, no matter how long a couple has lived together.

Social media now plays a large role in most people’s day-to-day lives, with the average person spending over two hours each day on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Whilst these social networks are a brilliant way to stay in touch, people should always be mindful of what personal information they are sharing, particularly when going through children or matrimonial financial proceedings.

Something which is being reported more and more frequently in the media are high value divorce cases in which one party seeks to argue a “stellar contribution”.

A couple planning to enter a marriage or civil partnership may decide to enter into a written agreement reflecting what they intend to happen to their money and property if the marriage or civil partnership were to end.