family

21st May 2024

The Family Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2023 came into force in April 2024, with the primary aim of encouraging early non-court dispute resolution (NCDR) in the vast majority of private family matters. The changes seek to ensure ...

10th May 2024

What is a Cohabitation Agreement? Cohabitation agreements have gained significant recognition and importance in the United Kingdom as the dynamics of relationships continue to evolve. In recent years, the number of couples choosing to ...

7th March 2024

Child maintenance is regular financial support paid by one parent to another to assist with a child’s everyday living expenses. It is ordinarily paid to the primary carer of the child (otherwise known as the resident parent) and is ...

Emily Bull
21st February 2024

With a rise in people investing in cryptocurrency, the existence and potential distribution of these digital assets is becoming an increasingly normal issue for those going through a divorce or dissolution. The first step towards ...

16th April 2020

The ”lockdown” and social distancing guidance published by the Government on 23 March 2020 was designed with one key aim in mind: to save lives. Staying home helps the NHS, stops the spread of COVID-19 and keeps people safe. But what ...

Trees
25th March 2020

The President of the Family Division has issued further guidance for the parents of children who are subject to child arrangements orders during the current Coronavirus pandemic. The key message is that ‘where Coronavirus restrictions ...

23rd March 2020

A civil partnership is a relationship between two people of the same sex or opposite sex – known as civil partners. Once registered, your civil partnership will mean that your relationship is legally recognised and will provide you ...

18th March 2020

We are delighted to welcome Emily Bower to our family department. Emily joins us as a Solicitor with more than 10 years’ experience. Tim Melville-Walker, Partner and Head of Family, stated “I am delighted that Emily has joined our ...

Multicultural friends group using smartphone with coffee at university college break - People hands addicted by mobile smart phone - Technology concept with connected trendy millennials - Filter image
7th March 2018

On the whole, social media is a useful and effective tool for sharing information between friends, businesses and the world generally. For most, it is a very positive and welcome innovation, which has developed enormously over the past ...

MacDonald Oates LLP Solicitors
7th December 2017

Until now, cases about the financial side of a divorce or civil partnership dissolution have been decided by District Judges with a variety of expertise, not always in matrimonial finances. This has led to frustration being expressed ...

Divorce definition text with gold wedding ring concept
11th October 2017

Many couples going through a divorce have assets to divide between them, such as a family home, investments and pensions. However, often in our work matters are complicated by the fact that the parties own a business together. Very few ...

MacDonald Oates LLP Solicitors
20th October 2016

Couples going through a separation often fear the worst; lengthy court proceedings that result in nothing but upset and extortionate legal costs. However, in reality very few of our clients go down this route. Most cases we deal with ...

MacDonald Oates LLP Solicitors
9th May 2016

We are pleased to report that Tim Melville-Walker, the head of our family department, has become one of the first lawyers in the country to qualify as an arbitrator for children matters. Tim has been a family law arbitrator for some ...

MacDonald Oates LLP Solicitors
25th February 2016

It is not unusual for a couple entering into marriage to want to protect their money by drawing up a pre-nuptial agreement before the wedding; a pre-nuptial agreement specifies how they have agreed to divide the finances if they ...

MacDonald Oates LLP Solicitors
17th February 2016

I am often asked by my clients whether or not they can still divorce their spouse if he/she is refusing to “sign the papers”. It is not uncommon when a relationship breaks down for one party to feel that the other will cause ...

MacDonald Oates LLP Solicitors
8th February 2016

There is often a great deal of media hype in the New Year about family lawyers being inundated with new divorce enquiries, grappling to keep up with the post-Christmas surge of people wanting a new start; the so-called “Black Monday”. ...

MacDonald Oates LLP Solicitors
6th January 2016

Christmas can be a really tough time for families. It is no surprise that family lawyers note an increase in break ups and other family problems in January. However, a problem does not mean there has to be a fight – fighting makes ...