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Family Law Solicitors in Southwark

Dealing with legal issues relating to your family can be complicated. Our expert family law solicitors in Southwark know the importance of having the right advice and representation. We deal with many family law matters, providing specialist help and support to ensure you achieve the best possible outcome.

We always aim to deal with matters constructively, minimising conflict and finding solutions without needing court proceedings. We have a reputation for excellence and are often recommended by our clients.

At OTS Solicitors, our family law advice and expertise includes:

Divorce and separation
Cohabitation and unmarried family
Family mediation and Dispute Resolution
Domestic Violence, Injunctions and Emergency Remedies
Pre-nuptial and Post-nuptial agreements
Children and Childcare arrangements
International adoption
Surrogacy

Contact our family law solicitors in Southwark

To speak to expert family law and divorce solicitors in Southwark, call us on 0203 959 9123 or use our contact form.

Our family law services in Southwark

Divorce and Separation

Going through a divorce or separation is never easy. We know how daunting it can be to deal with the ending of a relationship. Our Divorce and Separation solicitors can guide you through the process, ensuring your interests are observed and that you have the financial means you need for the future.

We provide a comprehensive service that deals with all aspects of divorce. This includes putting a financial order in place. This is an essential step, as without an order, you could face a financial claim in the future. We provide a comprehensive catalogue of divorce services, some of which are described below.

As part of your financial settlement, we will look at the available pension provision. Pensions can be split on divorce if necessary to provide fairly for you both. If you would rather keep your pension, we will look at other potential options when dividing your finances, such as giving your former partner a larger share of other assets such as savings or property.

Splitting a matrimonial property can be difficult. We can discuss the potential options with you, which could include one party having the property while the other receives savings or pensions instead, whether the property will be sold, either now or in the future and whether it will be possible to refinance to buy your former partner out. Where children are involved, their interests will be prioritised, and the person with their day-to-day care may be entitled to stay in the matrimonial home, at least until they reach 18.

If you are a high net worth individual, you need a solicitor with high net worth divorce experience. Our team includes family lawyers with the expertise to take on this type of complex case and to ensure that you receive the assets to which you are entitled.

Splitting finances on divorce is not always easy. If you are involved in a financial dispute, we can provide robust representation to try and find the right solution. We will negotiate on your behalf and can support you through alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation. Where necessary, we can take your case to court to ensure that you receive the financial settlement you need.

We offer a full range of advice relating to matrimonial and divorce proceedings, including judicial separation and annulling a marriage.

We also handle cases involving civil partnership dissolution, which follows a similar process to divorce.

We know you will likely have many questions about the divorce or dissolution process. We are always happy to answer these questions, and we will go through what you can expect to happen in detail to avoid surprises. A divorce will typically take at least six months, as there is a cooling-off period.

Cohabitation and Unmarried Family

If you are or have been cohabiting, we can advise you of your rights and take steps to protect your interests in property and contact with your children. It’s important to give yourself the best possible chance of success, which is where our team come in.

Our Cohabitation and Unmarried Family solicitors will ensure that you can implement the best measures to protect both your family and your property rights. We can promise a bespoke solution that puts your family first, using your individual circumstances to construct a case that will give you the strongest chance of success.

Family Mediation and Dispute Resolution

We always aim to resolve matters without the need for litigation wherever possible. This is a quicker process and can reduce the level of conflict. Where possible, we will explore mediation and other methods of alternative dispute resolution with you.

Our Family Mediation and Dispute Resolution solicitors boast excellent alternative dispute resolution skills that will preserve relationships when possible. We appreciate the impact that litigation can have on a family and will strive to ensure we implement the most amicable solution possible.

Domestic Violence, Injunctions, and Emergency Remedies

If you have experienced domestic violence, our experienced domestic violence solicitors can step in to protect you and your family. We know how difficult this situation is, and our experts will take prompt action on your behalf, including obtaining injunctions such as non-molestation orders and occupation orders where needed.

At OTT, our Domestic Violence, Injunctions, and Emergency Remedies solicitors can help with various domestic violence services, including injunctions and restraining orders. We appreciate the need to be discreet and speedy and promise a solution that will put you and your loved ones first.

Pre-Nuptial and Post-Nuptial Agreements

A pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement can protect your assets and give you a level of financial certainty for the future. Whilst this can be a difficult conversation topic to broach, it can also help you and your partner discuss finances openly and make fair arrangements.

Our Pre-Nuptial and Post-Nuptial Agreements solicitors can draft a comprehensive agreement and advise you on the implications. It’s important to be as informed as possible in this situation for the benefit of both your relationship and assets.

Children and Childcare Arrangements

Making arrangements for children following the breakdown of a relationship is not always straightforward. Our expert Children and Childcare Arrangements solicitors can support you through this process, working to put arrangements in place that are in the best interests of your family and that provide stability for everyone.

We can advise you through mediation, where necessary, to try and agree on a schedule for your children. We also deal with a full range of other child law issues, including abduction, maintenance and child support, special guardianship orders, specific issue orders, prohibited steps orders and grandparents’ rights.

International Adoption

If you are considering adding to your family by adopting a child from overseas, our expert international adoption solicitors can provide the advice you need, providing guidance in what can be a complex legal area.

Our International Adoption solicitors understand the complex process of overseas adoption and will guide you through it every step of the way. Our expertise includes understanding the rules relating to adoption from other countries, dealing with immigration issues, finalising the legal adoption of a child from overseas, and advising you on whether your adoption will be legally recognised in the UK.

Surrogacy

If you are considering surrogacy, you need to ensure that you have a sound legal framework in place and that you understand the implications. Our expert Surrogacy solicitors can advise you of the issues you need to be aware of, draft a surrogacy agreement and apply for a parental order on your behalf, which will give you full legal parenthood and parental responsibility for your child.

We also provide advice on international surrogacy – please contact us for more information.

Why choose our family law solicitors in Southwark?

Our experienced family and child law solicitors in Southwark have been helping individuals and families in the area for many years. We have wide experience in all aspects of family law and we are known for the outstanding level of personalised service we provide.

We understand how difficult it can be to deal with legal issues relating to children and relationships and we are always understanding and supportive.

Our team includes members of Resolution, a family law group for solicitors committed to dealing with matters out of court wherever possible. We also hold Law Society accreditations for Family Law and Children Law in recognition of our expertise and are ranked by leading legal directory, The Legal 500.

For more information on our services, see our divorce and family law page.

Contact our family law solicitors in Southwark

To speak to expert family law and divorce solicitors in Southwark, call us on 0203 959 9123 or use our contact form.

Your Questions and our answers about Family Law Solicitors in Southwark

Despite your partner residing in the British Virgin Islands, you may still be able to initiate divorce proceedings in the UK given certain conditions. However, legal advice tailored to your situation is crucial. There are support networks and legal aid may be available to help guide you through this process, especially when it comes to child custody, financial support, and the divorce itself. For more information, please contact us on 02039599123 or click here

If you’ve entered the UK on a dependent visa, the cancellation or withdrawal of a dependent visa isn’t a decision solely within the rights of the sponsor without valid grounds. While your spouse, as the sponsor, might have some influence over the visa status, demanding money or threatening to cancel your visa without justifiable reasons isn’t within their rights. The decision ultimately lies with the Home Office, and they may consider various factors when reviewing your application, including the reasons for your absences and your ties to the UK. For more information, please contact us on 02039599123 or click here

You may be able to apply for an order such as a Specific Issue Order or a Prohibited Steps Order, that can address matters regarding children, including permission to take a child abroad. A Specific Issue Order is used to address a particular issue concerning a child’s upbringing when parents cannot agree, such as whether a child should travel abroad.

However, before applying for such an order, it’s advisable to attempt to reach an agreement with the other parent regarding the proposed travel plans. If an agreement cannot be reached and there are concerns or disagreements about taking the child abroad please contact us regarding the next steps on 02039599123 or click here

Thank you for your enquiry.

You do not mention if the family home is owned by your husband or is owned by you or in your joint names. If your husband owns the family home, it is important that you register a matrimonial homes right notice to protect your interests. The notice will expire with the decree absolute of divorce but can be extended if you have not reached a financial settlement or you can delay applying to finalise the divorce proceedings.

If you cannot reach agreement on whether you should continue to live in the family home then if one of you starts divorce proceedings then either one of you can start financial court proceedings and ask a judge to decide how your assets, including the family home, are split. When deciding on whether it is feasible for you to stay in the family home the court would look at a range of factors, including your housing needs and the options of the house being sold or transferred to you.

We would need more information about the family home and your other assets before being able to advise you on the likely financial settlement options , for example information on the equity in the family home as well as details of other investments.

You do need family law advice on starting divorce proceedings, the likely prospects of your staying at the family home and your financial settlement options. We would therefore ask you to call us on 0203 959 9123 to arrange an appointment to discuss how we can help you.

Please note the answer provided above is for information purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice. In order for OTS Solicitors to provide legal advice you would need to instruct OTS Solicitors family law team. If you would like to proceed with legal advice and consult with our family law solicitors please call us on 0203 959 9123.

Thank you for your enquiry.

Although there are no children court orders in place to stop you from taking the children abroad (a prohibited steps order) the law says that if you take the children to Pakistan without the agreement of your former wife or a UK court order giving you permission to take the children abroad on holiday you are “abducting” the children .

You should therefore not take the children out of the UK without first getting the agreement of your former wife in writing to any planned trip or a court order giving you permission to take the children out of the UK for the purposes of a holiday.

It may be the case that your former wife is objecting to the trip for the children to see your parents if the children spent the whole summer in Pakistan last year? If that is the case you could agree that the children spend longer with her during the week or during other shorter school holidays or that the children will go to Pakistan every year but for say three or four weeks or on alternate years for the full summer holiday.

If you cannot resolve matters with your former wife then you will need advice on starting children court proceedings for an order to let you take the children to Pakistan. When deciding whether to make an order the court will look at what it considers to be in the best interests of your children.

You do need family law advice on taking your children abroad on holiday. We would therefore ask you to call us on 0203 959 9123 to arrange an appointment to discuss how we can help you.

Thank you for your enquiry.

Under current English divorce law you normally have to be married for at least one year before you can start divorce proceedings. You could separate from your husband now and get divorced in six months if you have the grounds to start divorce proceedings. We would need to speak with you to discuss whether you have the grounds to start divorce proceedings.

It is important that you are aware that you do not always need a spouse’s agreement to get a divorce. Agreement is only necessary if you start divorce proceedings based on two years separation with your spouse consenting to a divorce. There are other ways or grounds to get a divorce.

If you decide to separate now it may be sensible to sign a separation agreement. At the time of the divorce proceedings, the separation agreement could be converted into a financial court order to prevent either you or your husband making any further financial claims against one another.

If you are not a UK citizen, it is important that you take immigration law advice before you separate from your husband or start divorce proceedings. This is because your immigration status could be affected by the separation or divorce.

You do need family law advice on a separation agreement or divorce proceedings and your financial settlement options. We would therefore ask you to call us on 0203 959 9123 to arrange an appointment to discuss how we can help you.

Thank you for your enquiry. We are sorry to hear about the problems you are experiencing in seeing your children as much as you would like after your separation from your former partner.

If you cannot reach an agreement with your former partner over the amount of time the children should spend with you then you could apply to the court for a child arrangements order. This order is the new name for an access order or contact order. A child arrangements order will set out how much time the children should spend with you each week and can cover holiday contact as well.

When the court is deciding on an appropriate child arrangements order and contact the court will take into account the children’s wishes.

In relation to costs, the general rule is that a mother and father will pay their own legal costs of applying for a child arrangements order or responding to an application for a child arrangements order. It is very rare for in a children court case for a judge to order that one parent pays all or a share of the other parent’s legal fees. The conduct of one parent would need to be quite extreme for the court to consider making a costs order.

If you take legal advice, you may be able to agree an increase in contact with your children with your former partner through solicitor negotiations. That would avoid the need for a court application.

To discuss your situation and your children law options we would need to see you. We can give you expert children law advice and advise you on the best way forward and the cost of applying for a child arrangements order. Please call us on 0203 959 9123 to arrange an appointment to discuss how we can help you.

Thank you for your enquiry.

If you have decided to separate from your civil partner, you can apply to the family court to dissolve your civil partnership. Dissolving a civil partnership is like starting divorce proceedings, as it is a very similar court process.

Under current English family law, it is not possible to get a no fault divorce or dissolution of civil partnership. That means that in order to start dissolution of civil partnership proceedings you would need to prove one of a number of grounds to dissolve the civil partnership. We would need to meet you and discuss your situation in order to advise you on the relevant ground for the dissolution of your civil partnership.

When the court dissolves a civil partnership, the court also has the power, on the application of either civil partner, to make financial court orders. These orders can be made either by agreement or after a court hearing when the judge decides how family assets should be split. A judge can order the sale or transfer of property, cash or lump sum payments, pension sharing orders or maintenance.

It is important that you take legal advice on your financial settlement options and if civil partnership dissolution proceedings are started that you secure a financial court order. This is important as without a financial court order either you or your civil partner could bring future financial claims against one another.

You do need family law advice on your civil partnership dissolution and financial settlement options. We would therefore ask you to call us on 0203 959 9123 to arrange an appointment to discuss how we can help you. Please call us.

Thank you for your enquiry.

Under current UK family law, a prenuptial agreement is not a legally binding document. That means the contents of a prenuptial agreement will not be automatically upheld by a divorce court should you marry your fiancée and subsequently divorce and financial court proceedings are started.

However, a well-prepared prenuptial agreement will carry weight with a divorce court when the court is considering what financial award to make in divorce and financial court proceedings. Therefore, it is important that you do sign a prenuptial agreement prior to your marriage to your fiancée.

If you marry without a prenuptial agreement in place, the divorce court could award your fiancée far more than the court would have done if a prenuptial agreement had been signed before the wedding.

In order for the prenuptial agreement to carry weight in any future divorce proceedings the agreement will need to be prepared well in advance of the wedding date and you will both need to take legal advice on the contents of the prenuptial agreement document. In your situation, there may also be jurisdiction issues.

The first step is to discuss what you would like to put in your prenuptial agreement. A solicitor can guide you on the options taking into account your personal and financial circumstances.

Thank you for your enquiry.

If the house is owned in the sole name of your boyfriend then he is the legal owner. This could be changed as he could agree to transfer the property into your joint names. At the same time as the transfer of the property into joint names, the two of you could draw up a cohabitation agreement to set out the percentage of the equity in the house that you would each receive if you split up and the house is sold or transferred into your sole name or back into your boyfriend’s sole name. The percentage split in the cohabitation agreement could reflect the amount of equity in the property at the time of the transfer into joint names and the amount that you will both contribute towards the mortgage or home improvements.

If the property continues to be owned in your partner’s sole name, you could make a claim against the property if you split up and you can establish a ‘’beneficial interest ‘’ in the property. Alternatively, housing claims (known as schedule one claims) could be made if you have children together.

Whether the property is transferred into joint names or not a cohabitation agreement should be drawn up to avoid expensive court proceedings if you do split up. The cohabitation agreement should avoid arguments about the extent of your interest in the growth in equity in the property.

The family law team at OTS Solicitors can help you prepare a cohabitation agreement. Please call us on 0203 959 9123 to arrange an appointment to discuss how we can help you.

Thank you for your enquiry.

It is possible to start divorce proceedings without including your address in the divorce petition or in any of the court paperwork sent to your husband by the divorce court.

If you need to resolve financial claims, for example ownership of the family home or maintenance for yourself or a share of your husband’s pension, it is possible to start financial court proceedings without having to disclose your address to your husband.

If you have ongoing domestic violence or harassment concerns, you could also consider the option of applying to the family court for an injunction order. This type of court order is called a non-molestation injunction. The injunction order would prevent your husband from harassing you.

If you have children and are worried about their safety or welfare then the family court can also make orders to protect your children.

As you do need expert divorce advice we would ask you to call us on 0203 959 9123 to arrange an appointment with a member of the family law team to discuss your divorce options and to see how we can help you.

Thank you for your enquiry.

If your separation is amicable, you and your husband should talk about what you want to do with the joint savings account. If the separation is amicable and you take all the savings or half the money out of the joint savings account without first discussing your plans with your husband then this may make it harder to reach an agreed financial settlement.

As your savings account is a joint account, either you or your husband could take the savings from the bank account. In addition, if the account has an overdraft facility potentially either of you could take money out on overdraft. This means that if your separation is not amicable your husband could withdraw all the money. If money is taken out on overdraft then because the account is a joint one you and your husband are both jointly and severally liable for the whole of the overdraft.

Accordingly, if there are trust issues between you and your husband and you are worried that the account has an overdraft facility on it you could ask the bank to freeze the account. That means neither one of you could take any money out of the account nor use the overdraft facility until the account is unfrozen.

Whether you should take out money from the joint savings account depends on your detailed personal and financial circumstances. You should therefore take legal advice on your separation, including whether you are both going to continue living at the family home during the divorce proceedings and your financial settlement options. This discussion will help determine what steps you should take about the joint savings account, although if you fear that your husband will quickly withdraw the money without his discussing it first with you then you could chose to freeze the account to preserve the funds and then take legal advice.

You do need family law advice on starting divorce proceedings and your financial settlement options. We would therefore ask you to call us on 0203 959 9123 to arrange an appointment to discuss how we can help you. Please call us.