Divorce, Judicial Separation and Inheritance Act claims
Divorce Proceedings
Judicial Separation
Claims against estates on death
If your marriage or civil partnership has broken down, you and your partner have several options. You may in the first instance wish to try marriage counselling, but if it is clear that the relationship is over, the next step is for you to consult a lawyer to discuss formalising your separation by way of issuing divorce or judicial separation proceedings.
Divorce Proceedings
There are different routes by which traditional divorce proceedings can proceed. At the moment, we do not have ‘no fault’ divorce in the UK. This means that a reason for divorce needs to be stated. There are five such reasons, including separation for a period, adultery and unreasonable behaviour. Whatever the reason, this will need to be particularised in a divorce petition. Despite this, there is no reason for divorce proceedings to be difficult, and virtually all divorces proceed by consent.
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It is possible for marriages to be nullified in certain circumstances, including if there has been no consummation of the marriage. This is something with which we are familiar and can assist you.
Whichever route to a divorce you choose to take, a divorce petition will be issued. In some cases, both parties will issue a divorce petition, but this is increasingly unusual. There are decrees that are pronounced, decree nisi and decree absolute, before the divorce is finalised.
Divorce proceedings do not deal with spouses’ financial claims, or any issues relating to the care of children. Of course we are able to assist with both of those areas, and have described them in detail on separate pages here.
Judicial Separation
In some cases, people decide that although they want to formalise their separation, they do not want to get divorced. It is possible to judicially separate, so that there is a formal Court recognition of your separation, including a financial settlement, but you are not recorded to be divorced. A decision to have a judicial separation rather than a divorce does has some implications for the type of financial settlements that are available (specific to the circumstances of the particular marriage), and if this a route that you are interested in, it is something that we can discuss with you in more detail.
Claims against estates on death
We can assist our clients with issues that may arise in the event of a death within the family. Disputes over wills, trusts and estates can be very distressing. Often the dispute is intractable as those involved approach the matter from very different stand points. However we can assist in resolving claims such as these, either through the more traditional route of issuing proceedings, or via alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation, arbitration and other discussion meetings. We can advise on the appropriate outcome of a matter, and will provide you with step by step guidance and advice as the case unfolds.