Relationship breakdown

Unfortunately, with around 40% of UK marriages ending in divorce, relationship breakdown is a common occurrence. It’s a time when you need to make important and long-lasting decisions about your future that will affect both you, your children and others around you. It’s also a time when you are likely to be experiencing considerable emotional turmoil.

At Wards, our family lawyers are experienced in providing practical and supportive advice, helping you identify and prioritise the issues and offering solutions. In doing so, we can remove a significant part of the uncertainty and stress from the process.

If appropriate, we can also refer you to other sources of help, such as counsellors, accountants or financial advisors, who can help with particular emotional or financial difficulties.

Wards offer:

Who should I contact? In the first instance, contact Alison Bradley and she will either help you herself, or put you in touch with a team member at an office local to you. E-mail Alison or telephone her on 0117 929 2811.

I want to end my relationship
If you want to start divorce proceedings, you must have been married for at least one year and be able to show that your marriage has irretrievably broken down. You do this by proving one of the following facts:

1. your husband/wife (spouse) has committed adultery.
2. your spouse has behaved in such a way that you cannot reasonably be expected to live with them.
3. your spouse has deserted you for 2 or more years.
4. you have lived apart for a continuous period of 2 or more years and both of you agree to the divorce.
5. you have been separated for 5 or more years (this fact is used when your spouse does not agree to the divorce and you cannot prove points 1, 2 or 3).

Obtaining a divorce typically takes around 6 months from the date on which the forms are sent to Court. However, resolving financial matters and child care arrangements may take longer. Divorce is dealt with largely through the post and there is normally no need for anyone to go to Court.

I want to save my relationship
Talking to us is not an irrevocable step towards divorce. As experienced and expert advisors, we offer an impartial overview of your circumstances, and may be able to help you find a basis for a reconciliation.

One of our lawyers specialises in collaborative family practice, which is a new way for divorcing or separating couples to work together as a team with trained professionals, to resolve disputes respectfully, without going to court. For more information on the collaborative approach, click here.

We can also recommend several sources of counselling and related services that might resolve problems within the relationship, such as Relate, GPs or the Social Services.

We’re not married, what are my rights?
If you are unmarried (a co-habitee), then there are no formalities to ending a relationship. However, there are often other issues relating to children and the financial consequences that need resolving, which we can advise on. These include:

My partner is violent – what can I do?
Domestic abuse can affect many relationships, whether between spouses, partners or relatives. At Wards we have a number of solicitors who are experts in this area of law and we can offer you quick and confidential advice about the options available to you. If the situation is urgent and you feel you can't remain in your home, we can advise you on where to find safe accommodation.

The Police have specialist domestic abuse units and they will respond to requests for assistance immediately. The Courts also have wide-ranging powers to protect victims of domestic abuse and their children. We can help you to obtain an injunction from the Court to protect you, if necessary.

What about the children?
If you have children, we will need to prove to the Court that the arrangements for their care are satisfactory. In the event of a dispute, the Court has considerable powers to resolve the arrangements for children and it will always consider what is best for the children.

We can’t agree on residence and contact issues
Sometimes parents are able to agree the arrangements for the children. Children have the right to remain in contact with both of their parents and their extended family. If this is not possible, we can help negotiate an agreement, we can refer clients to mediation or, as a last resort, act for you in a Court action.

The Court will decide what is best for each individual child. If court proceedings are issued, then a welfare officer will see the children, discuss the case with the parents, schools and, if relevant, other family members and then report back to the Court.

It is often necessary for arrangements to be made to have contact restarted if it has stopped, particularly if there has been a long break. These arrangements are often aimed at rebuilding trust between the parents. They can include contact at a contact centre or other neutral venue.

Could the Social Services take my children into care?
This will only happen if you agree to them doing so or if they get an Order from the Court. The Police can also remove children and place them with the Local Authority if they think they are in danger.

However, before the Court will make any orders, it has to have strong evidence that the children have suffered or are likely to suffer significant harm as a result of being in their parents’ care.

If the child is in the care of the Local Authority, then they still have the right to see their parents, although sometimes it is necessary to apply to the Court to enforce that right.

I want financial support from my partner for my child
Most payments by parents for children are governed by the Child Support Act and administered by the Child Support Agency (CSA). If you want to contact them, visit their website for details (click here).

The CSA uses a set formula to calculate payments. As a guide, one child receives 15% of the absent parent’s net income and 2 children receive 20%, up to a maximum of 25%.

We can act to help you agree payments, based on what we know the Court or the CSA would be likely to order in the event of an application being made.

If we separate, what happens to the house?
If you have any doubts about whether you are a legal owner of your home, please let us know immediately, as we may need to protect your interest in it.

In general, the Court is looking for a home for any children of the marriage until they are 18. This normally means that if there is insufficient value in the house to buy two separate homes, the parent who will be looking after the children will stay in the home with the children until they leave home.

If there is enough money to provide a home for the children and release some capital, then the Court could order a sale of the house. But there are a host of other factors that are taken into account, such as the contribution each party has made to the asset, their ages, earning capacities etc.

Mortgage payments: if the property is in your joint names, the mortgage will be too and you are both responsible for paying it. If the payments are not made, the bank or building society may bring repossession proceedings.

Insurance payments: you are also obliged to ensure that any premiums are kept up-to-date on any endowment or life insurance policies and buildings and contents cover. Failure to do so could result in you being in breach of your mortgage terms.

Wills and inheritance: the usual way that married couples own their home together is as joint tenants. Owning the property as joint tenants means that if one of you dies, the whole house will automatically pass to the survivor, regardless of what may be in your Will.

It is possible to stop this happening by serving a notice upon your spouse. Then, if you die, your half of the house would pass in accordance with your Will (for example, to your children) and would not automatically go to your spouse.

The drawback in altering the house ownership is, that if your spouse dies, you might not automatically inherit their share of the property. If you want to serve a notice to alter ownership, let us know.

If your estate fails to make adequate provision for your spouse, or your spouse's estate does not make adequate provision for you, the survivor may be able to claim against the estate at Court.

Wills are affected by divorce and marriage. If you do not have a will and you die before your divorce is granted, most of your estate will automatically pass to your spouse. Click here for information about making a Will.

I’m concerned about the financial aspects
It is not surprising that financial worries are at the top of everyone's list of concerns.

General financial issues

Paying the bills
The immediate need is to ensure that both parties’ financial needs are met whilst the longer-term financial issues are being resolved. We can advise about welfare benefits, and negotiate and agree payments to be made during the case, until a final agreement is reached.

The home as an asset
For specific information on this issue, click on ‘If we separate what happens to the house?’.

Long-term settlements
If possible, agreement should be reached regarding the financial arrangements and a request made that the Court orders what has been agreed. This is known as a 'Consent Order'. If agreement cannot be reached, one may be imposed on both partners by the Court.

When deciding what type of order to make and for how much, the Court's primary consideration will be the welfare of any child under the age of 18. Other considerations will include the income, potential earning capacity, property and other financial resources of you and your spouse, and the financial needs, obligations and responsibilities of both of you.

How much will it cost?
There are various ways in which your case can be funded and we will advise on all the options at our first meeting.

Public funding - it depends on your financial circumstances. There are strict qualification requirements based on your disposable income that are imposed by the Legal Services Commission, which manages the public funding scheme. If your gross income is above £2,000 per month or your disposable income is above £601 per month and you have capital or assets over £8,000 (excluding the value of your home), you will not qualify for assistance. If eligible, the Community Legal Service Fund will cover your legal costs and you seldom pay legal costs for the other side.

Paying privately – we provide a free half hour initial interview for our clients. Following this, we can provide a realistic estimate at the outset of the case and can agree set staged payments for each part of the process, so that you know what you will have to pay when and can budget accordingly.

How you can help us

Who should I contact? In the first instance, contact Alison Bradley and she will either help you herself, or put you in touch with a team member at an office local to you. E-mail Alison or telephone her on 0117 929 2811.