Specialist divorce lawyer, Rachel Buckley, offers her insights on the importance and approach to understanding and putting in place prenuptial agreements. Understanding prenuptial agreements Begin with Time on Your Side: It’s important to bring up the topic of a prenuptial agreement well in advance of your wedding day. This allows both you and your partner enough time to consider all of the legal and financial implications involved and make an informed decision. Heart-to-Heart Conversations: Talk opening about the rationale for wanting a prenuptial agreement. It might be helpful to share some ..read more

The Family Law Company is proud to announce that our Joint MD, Rachel Buckley, is now listed on the Spears 500 Advisors List as a family lawyer. Rachel is highlighted for her work with highly complex and high-value divorce and finance matters for entrepreneurs, high profile business owners, influential sports people, landowners and high net worth individuals which often involve complex pension assets, trust implications, business interests and substantial incomes, plus pre and post nuptial agreements, and cohabitation issues. In her listing she is described as possessing a ‘problem solving app ..read more

Breaking up is always hard to do, but when you’re not married and there is no official way to deal with your separation, it can be difficult to know how to proceed. There is no paperwork to record the fact of your separation but the same issues often arise upon the breakdown of a cohabitation as they do on a divorce. Issues of property and children still need to be resolved by separating cohabitees explains Deborah Cahill. The rules in relation to children either in divorce or post cohabitation are the same. The interests of the children are paramount and parents share the same legal rights as ..read more

Summer sunshine has really pepped everyone up hasn’t it? And for those in a newish relationship, it might have sparked the decision to take the big step of buying or renting a house with your partner. You may already have started to look at properties or found your place and are ready to move in together. This is a really exciting time, searching for a property that suits you both. It’s a good idea to put together a wish list so you don’t spend time viewing homes that just don’t fit the bill. Rural or city, how many bedrooms, big/small/no garden, old and characterful or fresh new build? Family ..read more

On 15 July 2021, Baroness Stedman-Scott (Under Secretary of State at the DWP) set out plans to extend bereavement support to cohabiting couples with children. Previously, a surviving parent could only claim the financial support if they had been married or in a civil partnership at the time of their spouse or civil partner’s death.  Under the plans announced Widowed Parent’s Allowance and Bereavement Support Payments will be extended to surviving cohabiting partners with dependent children who were living with their partner at the time of death. Once approved by Parliament, the changes wi ..read more

Director and Unmarried couple legal specialist David Cobern, explains why pre-nuptial agreements could be could take some of the tension out of farming marriages and divorce. First published in the Western Morning News farming supplement https://www.devonlive.com/all-about/farming A divorce within a farming family can be more complex than it may be for others due to concerns about the division of historic family assets, disrupted succession planning and future sustainability of the farm. Reaching terms can be a prolonged and expensive process. By putting in place a pre-nuptial agreement, at le ..read more

A strong pre or postnuptial agreement is the most effective way to protect your family business in the event of a divorce explains director and family lawyer David Cobern. There is nothing quite like a family business. Heritage, commitment and that family connection make it a very special thing. Anyone involved in a family business knows that very little comes between them and their partners. So what happens when somebody who is integral to the business falls in love and plans to get married. On the one hand of course, the natural instinct is to be happy for a relative who has found love, but ..read more

David Cobern explains the implications for couples who have prenuptial agreements but have had to make this difficult decision to postpone their wedding. There is nothing worse than having to postpone a long planned wedding, particularly when you have friends and relatives coming from all over to support you on your big day. That has been the reality faced by many couples due to the coronavirus pandemic. Social distancing rules have forced couples to postpone arrangements, in some cases for many months. So what are the implications for couples who have had to make this difficult decision where ..read more

A draft order has been laid before Parliament which will permit a bereaved unmarried partner to claim damages for bereavement on the death of his or her partner. A bereavement damages award is currently capped at £12,980 and is available as a separate category of damages in any claim brought for a wrongful act causing the death a loved one. Currently, bereavement damages are only available under section 1A of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 to the wife or husband of the deceased. It is unfortunate that this change to the legislation was first recommended by the Law Commission as long ago as 1999 ..read more

Our unmarried legal specialist David Cobern shares some things to consider when planning and protecting your future together. As couples #stayathome they’re spending more time together than perhaps ever before and it will be a test for many relationships.  Quite rightly your legal rights won’t be top of your worries but it might be a good  time to look at safeguarding your future together. Have you resolved past relationships? If one of you is still married or is divorced but has no financial settlement, it is advisable to sort it out. A former spouse has more rights than your curren ..read more