It is a sad fact of every divorce lawyer’s job to expect a flurry of enquiries and appointments each year after the festive period. This is not a time for lawyers to ‘cash in’ on other’s misfortune. A good family lawyer will know that the breakdown of a relationship at any time of year can be an extremely upsetting time for families.
The festive period can often be the point where relationship issues reach their peak because of the expectation, promise and stress that Christmas time can bring. Families spend intense periods of time together. Often what should be a celebration can end in adversity.
Our Family department is prepared to help. The skill sets of our family solicitors are a valuable resource to clients at this time. We know that clients who come to us may feel uncertain, upset and confused. We offer sensible and practical legal advice and the options available.
It may be that relationship advice or family mediation is what is needed and we have the tools to signpost you to appropriate third parties who can help. One of the UK’s most recognisable relationship charities, Relate, has reported a significant increase in enquires in January and have recently tweeted about the issue.
Divorce is never a decision we encourage our clients to take lightly. A relationship breakdown can raise many more issues than whether to divorce, including finances and children issues. Clients might want to know whether one of them should move out of the family home. How the mortgage and other bills will be met. These may be more of a priority for them to consider initially. Clients might be worried about the impact of any separation on their children. With whom will the children live? When will the children spend time with the non-resident parent? Often these issues give rise to other concerns such as access to the home, the ability of the parties to communicate to make decisions together for their children and perhaps their home and finances.
Sometimes, what a client needs at that initial appointment is a friendly, knowledgeable ear to listen and advise with complete confidence, to their situation. Thereafter, perhaps time to come to terms with the way forward. Our appointments are no-obligation and we work at the pace our family law clients need.
Louise Martin is Head of Family at Onions & Davies Ltd. She has over 12 years’ experience of family law, including separation and divorce issues, finances and children’s issues. Louise also acts as a Family Mediator and brings a conciliatory approach to her legal cases, combined with a robust handling of the case. She provides clear and helpful guidance, whether this just be at a no-obligation initial appointment, or a contested finances, children matter or domestic violence matter. Call 01630 652405 for an appointment with Louise.