Changes to Children Law
A new law will come into effect on 22 April – the Children and Families Act 2014.A number of changes have been made to the laws involving applications to Court relating to children and the Children Act 1989 has been amended.MediationThe Government is still trying to encourage people to attend me...
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Living Wills
What exactly is a Living Will?It is a document containing your views on how you would like to be treated if you are unable to make such decisions yourself, for example if you have a stroke or accident or have dementia. If you ‘lack mental capacity’ to make such decisions, doctors have a legal...
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Please stop!
Court proceedings involving children are sometimes a painful, long and expensive process for both parents. The effect on the children can also be traumatic. Therefore, Court proceedings are best avoided wherever possible.If matters can only be decided by involving the Court, it is a huge relief ...
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Prenups in the news again
Two important news stories this week:New Law to make Prenuptial Agreement binding in England & Wales?As reported by The Times, The Law Commission is due to publish a report at the end of February dealing with prenuptial agreements (the Matrimonial Property, Needs and Agreements report). The Law C...
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Property confusion
As I mentioned in my Blog a few weeks ago, there are two ways to jointly own a property – either as ‘joint tenants’ or ‘tenants in common’.Firstly, the law confuses everyone by using the word ‘tenant’. Most people would say that a tenant rents a property. So apologies from the legal...
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Winter sports and LPAs
We cannot imagine how difficult it is for the family of Michael Schumacher. Following his skiing accident a few weeks ago, the Formula 1 racing driver has been in an induced coma.What if something similar were to happen to you?Of course your family and friends would be devastated, but it could al...
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The sad story of William and Kate
Let me tell you about William and Kate. They were not married, but had lived together for 20 years. They kept their finances separate and did not have joint accounts, mainly for tax purposes. Kate was divorced and had 3 grown-up children from her previous marriage. Sadly, Kate died without mak...
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Pet Prenups
We have all heard of pre-nuptial agreements, pre-marital agreements or pre-Civil Partnership agreements. Couples make an agreement deciding what happens to the house, furniture, bank accounts, cars, etc if the relationship fails. Although not strictly followed in this country in the same way as ...
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Did you know?
There is no such thing as a ‘quickie divorce’. Divorces take about 4 months to finalise, whether they are based on adultery, unreasonable behaviour or separation. Also, divorce is not automatic if you have been separated for more than 5 years. All divorces follow the same procedure. ...
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What is Unreasonable Behaviour?
A woman in Kuwait filed for divorce because her husband prefers to use bread to eat peas rather than a fork. After discovering this, she said she could no longer live with him.Some of you may say “Yuk, I agree. I could not live with that and would want a divorce”. Others may say “How silly...
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