The Rise in Over-50s Divorce I have been a specialist divorce solicitor based in Newcastle and Sunderland for over thirty years. When I began assisting divorce clients in the late 1980’s most of them would be in their late twenties or early thirties. Today the vast majority of my clients will be over 50 and this has been the case for at least ten years. If you listened to your friends in the pub, you may well be given bar room advice that bears no resemblance to the way that such divorce cases ought to be settled. Traditionally divorce solicitors would try to maintain the matrimonial ..read more

Which area of the law do you work in? I work in our Private Client Team covering Wills, Probate, Lasting Power of Attorney and Elderly Client matters. I tend to specialise in looking after the affairs of older clients who have no one else to help them. I also deal with all aspects of divorce law in particular complicated cases involving multiple investments, pensions and businesses. Did you always envisage a career in the industry? I wanted to be a lawyer from the age of thirteen. What has been your career path so far? Initially I started off f ..read more

Most people who are going through a Divorce right now, or who have been divorced and have used a solicitor, will have heard of a Consent Order. As a Divorce Solicitor, I see this as being the magical document. It is the end of a negotiated process and the document that protects you from further claims being made against you by your spouse. It is in many ways more important than a Decree Absolute. What is a Consent Order? Well, the clue is in the name. It is an order of the court which sets out an agreement reached between you and your spouse in relation to your finances. The court expects the ..read more

There has been a lot in the news recently about coercive control, which is now a criminal offence. In the criminal courts this is a new arena, and of course, the burden of proof that the prosecution must reach is quite high compared to the situation in divorce courts. What amounts to coercive control will be different in each instance. In the case of Mr and Mrs Marsden, the wife complained that her husband had told her what to wear, had prevented her from seeing her children and had controlled all elements of their finances. In other cases, a spouse will cont ..read more

We have seen a huge increase in the number of clients coming to see us to report difficulties around Arrangements for their Children. This can range from fathers not being able to see their baby or toddler, especially if they have never lived with the mother. We might have teenagers refusing to have anything to do with one parent; children whipped away to another part of the country without any prior warning. The issues are many; parents with addictions, a parent who has found a new love and frankly the children don’t share that love, there may have been domestic violence, feelings of aba ..read more

When I trained we covered many areas of law so I have a good understanding of a broad range of issues. This is helpful in the work that I do. It is also helpful that I run my own business, this means that I can help clients who have a business or who are married to someone who owns a business. I also have a keen interest in property and so I have a good idea as to the value of a house for divorce purposes and how fast a probate property is likely to sell. There is no typical week for me. I might be networking, setting the budget for the year or dealing with our marketing. I love LinkedIn ..read more

January is often a time when many look to make changes. That could be a New Year’s resolution as small as joining a gym; however, for some, it could be a time of significant and life-changing decisions. The first month of the year will see many couples decide on divorce, with the first working Monday referred to as ‘Divorce Day’. Christmas is over, the distractions have come to an end. For those who have stayed together for the children over the festive period, the time has now arrived to address the situation. The stresses of Christmas, particularly for those who have children, can mean ..read more

It has been a long-established belief, that where custody battles are concerned, the Family Court’s favour Mothers. It is indeed the case, that previously the ‘tender years doctrine’ was applied by Judges, who typically presumed that younger children were best placed with their mother, following the breakdown of their parent’s relationship. Why? Can a father not feed a baby? Change a nappy? Pack a lunchbox? Of course, they can. Does the law still apply this idea? Thankfully not. Today, the Courts do not adopt a ‘maternal presumption’, and rather, they strive to consider what is in the best int ..read more

As Domestic Violence Divorce Solicitors based in Newcastle and a Family Law Expert, I was contacted recently by a researcher working on behalf of the Law Society. Did I feel that women are treated better than men in the Family Courts? Did I think that there should be any changes in the law? I was able to provide the researcher with a number of examples where men have not been treated very well by the courts or the police. In one instance, a big bloke, who worked as a bouncer, came to see me. He had been served with an injunction forcing him out of the matrimonial home because of so-called ..read more

It is thirty years since I handled my first divorce case. When I started out I was dealing with simpler divorces. This would be a situation with no assets, often a short marriage with no children. As I progressed I dealt with perhaps the matrimonial home, some pensions and maybe some savings. This type of case is quite typical of those that our Divorce Lawyers handle. They are, from my perspective, quite straightforward. I can see the pattern of assets, the overview that a judge will probably take and the likely financial outcome. The difference between my clients in such cases and me is that ..read more