Separation Agreements

Separation Agreement Solicitors

Though not technically legally binding, a properly drafted Separation Agreement, where both parties have received independent legal advice, plays a crucial role in expressing your intentions and desires during this sensitive period. It can help separating couples address and resolve several significant practical matters that require careful consideration and planning. These may include:

• Financial Responsibilities: The agreement can set out financial obligations, including how the mortgage/rent on a shared property will be managed, ensuring that both parties understand their roles and financial contributions.
• Shared Expenses: It is essential to determine how shared costs, such as household bills, will be handled. The Separation Agreement can specify how these expenses will be divided, helping to minimise conflicts and ensure fairness.
• Joint Accounts and Investments: Separation Agreements can include details regarding joint accounts, investments, and other financial assets. It can outline how these assets will be divided or managed post-separation, promoting transparency and preventing misunderstandings.
• Debts and Liabilities: Addressing any outstanding debts and liabilities accumulated during the relationship is crucial. The agreement can provide a framework for the fair distribution of these financial responsibilities, preventing future disputes.

Financial disclosure will also play an important role in the making of a Separation Agreement, which will be persuasive to a Family Court if the terms are challenged by one party and in case of any future disputes over financial claims. By clearly documenting these practical matters in a Separation Agreement, both parties can have peace of mind knowing that important aspects of their separation are addressed, fostering an amicable and well-structured transition.

Furthermore, should divorce or dissolution follow the separation, carefully crafted Separation Agreements help streamline the legal process and minimise legal costs by helping to avoid lengthy court proceedings.

Our family lawyers are experts in non-confrontational dispute resolution, providing timely and cost-effective assistance in reaching personalised agreements during separation. We prioritise minimising conflict and preserving relationships throughout the process. We will work with you to draft a comprehensive Separation Agreement that covers all the essential aspects, ensuring your best interests are met while considering the needs of your loved ones.

Get in touch with our specialist family law team at sols@onionsanddavies.co.uk for tailored legal solutions for separation agreements – we are here to support you every step of the way.

Our Family Mediation Services

Louise Martin is a family mediator and can act for parents who wish to attend family mediation to help make decisions about their children. Louise trained as a family mediator in 2016, and regularly practises as a family mediator alongside her family law work, meaning she has up to date knowledge of the current situation with the family courts. 

Louise will encourage parents to take a child-focussed approach in her mediation sessions, which can be face to face or remote by zoom, and advocates Child-Inclusive Mediation, which provides opportunities for children and young people to have their voices heard directly during the mediation process, to help them feel respected and listened to and, at their request, to assist parents or carers to receive, understand and take account of the child’s messages and/or suggestions regarding decisions and arrangements for the child (credit to FMC – https://www.familymediationcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Paper-1-CIM-Principles-and-Requirements.pdf). Louise will arrange a Child-inclusive Mediation where the child has expressed a wish to participate and parents consent to this.