01392 686920
miln@mmlaw.co.uk
A Twitter feed caught my eye yesterday: “Bad weather now blamed for rise in domestic violence”. The source was a respectable one, Family Law News, an offshoot of the excellent Family Lore Focus website. I wondered what the ultimate source of the news was – I guessed a research project by a university social sciences
Read more…
When you petition for divorce you have to give the court your marriage certificate. This must be either the one you were given when you got married, or a duplicate certificate. A photocopy is not acceptable. Records of all marriages contracted in Devon (other than Plymouth and Torbay) are kept centrally by Devon County Council.
Read more…
“But we’re agreed on the divorce and the financial arrangements so we don’t need separate solicitors”. Yes, you do. If you are getting divorced there is an intrinsic conflict of interest and you each need to take advice separately. Sometimes what seems the obvious thing to do, for example sell the house and divide the
Read more…
If a spouse is receiving maintenance payments for herself (as opposed to for her children) those payments stop automatically if she remarries.
When a maintenance order is in force, whether payments to a spouse for her own maintenance (‘spousal maintenance’) or payments to a spouse to help maintain a child or children (‘child maintenance’), the amount of maintenance can always be varied. If the circumstances of the payer or of the payee change and the amount
Read more…
Although the evidence is a bit sketchy, it seems that Facebook is being mentioned in more and more divorce petitions. People post things about themselves that can amount to an admission of adultery or unreasonable behaviour. If they’re also a bit vague about how to configure their privacy settings, they make it easy for their
Read more…
A divorcing husband and wife sometimes reconcile and decide not to get divorced after all. The divorce proceedings can be stopped at any time – even if there is a decree nisi it can be rescinded. If there is a decree absolute the couple have to remarry, but usually the reconciliation happens earlier than that.
Read more…
In an article yesterday in the Daily Telegraph it is claimed that in the High Court a woman is making a “unique bid to secure a common law divorce payout”. That description seems misguided in strictly legal terms, but the story that gives rise to the article is a classic example of how risky it is to
Read more…
In 2011 (the latest year for which figures are available), 70% of all financial divorce orders were made by consent without either party having made a financial application asking the court to make the decision. In 24% of cases one of the parties had made a financial application asking the court to make the decision but
Read more…
In certain areas of the country it will be possible for a trial period to ask the police to supply information about a partner’s history of domestic violence. Read about it here.