There has been a steep rise in the number of grandparents taking legal action to secure a role in the lives of their grandchildren. Some try to acquire parental responsibility in cases where the parents are unable to cope or unwilling to take responsibility for their children. Other grandparents simply want to have contact with
Machins Solicitors LLP are pleased to announce that they have been recommended in The Legal 500 2015 United Kingdon in the following eight practice areas: South East Corporate and commercial – Corporate and commercial – Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx South East Dispute resolution – Commercial litigation – Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx South East Dispute resolution
A father has been told he must stop recording videos of his daughter being handed over to her mother because it was abusive and did not provide any useful evidence in family court proceedings. A non-molestation order was made against him. The case involved a couple who had separated when their daughter, now aged six,
The number of unmarried couples in the UK has more than doubled in the last 20 years, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics. Many cohabitants believe that they have the same legal protection as married couples but, unfortunately for them, this is not the case. They have few automatic legal rights,
Under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, a husband or wife can seek a divorce from their spouse if they can show that there has been an “irretrievable breakdown” of their marriage. This “irretrievable breakdown” has to be proven on one of five facts, either: 1. Adultery;2. Unreasonable behaviour;3. Desertion;4. Separation of two years with consent;
A hospital consultant who refused to pay any maintenance or child support has been ordered to hand over his entire fortune to his ex-wife. The case involved consultant anaesthetist Essam Aly and his ex-wife Enas. The couple married in 2002 and had a son and a daughter. They divorced in 2011. Mr Aly then moved
A mother has been told that she can only have indirect contact with her children and cannot apply to change that decision for another four years. The Court of Appeal said the children had been subjected to too much conflict between their parents and needed to be protected from further, unnecessary stress. The case involved
A beauty queen has been awarded a £3.3m settlement in a divorce case described as “bruising and unedifying” by a leading judge in the High Court. The case involved Russian beauty queen Ekaterina Parfenova and her former husband Richard Fields, an American lawyer. The couple met in 2001 and have two children. They have lived
It is not uncommon for fathers seeking contact with their children to fear that the family court system is biased against them. According to a new study, however, there is no evidence of any bias. The research, by the universities of Warwick and Reading, found that on the contrary, contact applications by fathers were “overwhelmingly
A wife has had her divorce settlement increased because her husband inherited money after the original sum was agreed. The couple had been married for nine years and had two children. Their main asset was their home, which was worth £190,000. They were both on low incomes and received tax credits. Following the separation, the