With Family Mediation Week due to take place between 22-26 January 2024, we explain some key points about family mediation and how the process works. Family Mediation – What is it? Family mediation is designed to assist divorcing or separating couples reach an agreement in relation to financial and/or children matters that arise as a
Local members of the family justice body Resolution have welcomed new research which shows most people back a change in the law to give cohabiting people more rights. Currently, cohabiting couples have few or no rights in the event of a relationship breakdown meaning that unlike married couples there is no mechanism for splitting assets.
With Christmas fast approaching, it is important separating parents start planning early to agree their child arrangements for the festive period in advance to avoid any uncertainty and tension into the run up to the holidays. The Christmas period can be overwhelming to separating couples and emotions can run high. Issues with child arrangements can
Resolution Awareness Week and Cohabitation Reform Resolution’s ‘Awareness Week’ is taking place between 27th November and 1st December 2023. Resolution is an organisation of family justice professionals who work with families and individuals to resolve family issues taking a constructive and non-confrontational approach. All Machins Family Lawyers are committed to the Resolution Code of Conduct.
The Government is planning new measures to deal with parents who refuse to pay child maintenance. Those who fail to meet their obligations will face accelerated sanctions following the introduction of powers to speed up enforcement action and other reforms to make the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) fairer. A consultation is now taking place on
Actress Sophie Turner and her ex-husband, singer Joe Jonas, have used mediation to reach a shared custody agreement for their two children. The couple had previously announced that they divorced amicably but then the Game of Thrones star sued Jonas, claiming he hadn’t let their daughters return to England from the US. However, they then
Leading law groups have warned the government against making mediation compulsory in family disputes. The Ministry of Justice has just completed a consultation on compulsory mediation for all ‘suitable low-level’ family court cases. The Law Society says it supports government efforts to secure amicable resolutions in family disputes but believes mediation should only be voluntary, not
New regulations are being introduced to impose tougher sanctions on parents who fail to pay child maintenance. The government says the Child Support (Enforcement) Act will see families paid faster as it gives the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) the power to use a liability order to reclaim unpaid child maintenance instead of applying
Usually, in financial remedy proceedings, the decision about whether or not to sell the family home (or any other property) will not be made until the final hearing. However, there could be very good reasons for a party wanting to do so prior to the final hearing. This could be, for example, if the parties
A cross-party group of MPs has warned that cohabiting couples may have to wait for several years before legal reforms are implemented to better protect their rights. The MPs have urged the government to reconsider its timetable and speed things up. Unlike married couples, cohabitants have very few legal protections if their relationship breaks down.