We are frequently contacted by clients who have worked in Offshore industries for many years, requiring them to spend long periods away from home. This often means that their spouse stayed at home to look after the children. Many offshore workers have been working in the same industry for decades and are sometimes not able to work such long hours as they did when they were younger. This is, after all, gruelling work. Additionally, hours are being cut and redundancies are being made as the oil industry declines. This can mean family income reduction. The following is a typical divorce case that ..read more

Where Should your Child Live If You Are Separated From Their Mother or Father? You may have just separated from your partner and could be worried about how often you will see your children and where they will live. At Emmersons Solicitors our specialist family lawyers often advise our clients about their options when things seem quite raw. However we also help clients who wish to move away and take the children with them or whose ex-partner wishes to move away. In an ideal world, when parents separate, children should see each parent on an almost equal basis. This ..read more

How To Protect Your Children After Divorce or Separation At Emmersons Solicitors our specialist family lawyers are frequently presented with cases where a child’s parent refuses to allow them to see the other parent – often described as Parental Alienation. For example, in the case of Erica, she came to see us as she was concerned that every time her ex-husband, Sid, saw the children, he was drunk. She was very concerned and asked Sid to refrain from drinking when spending time with the children. He had placed them in danger on several occasions. Erica was very distressed as th ..read more

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