Laura is a senior associate solicitor in the Private Family team
Laura graduated from Keele University in Law with Mathematics in 2008 and obtained a distinction in the Legal Practice Course at the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice thereafter. She completed her training contract at a local firm in Bedfordshire and qualified as a solicitor in 2013.
Laura has specialised in family law since qualification and has previously led a team of divorce and finance specialists in the Milton Keynes branch of a large national family law specialist firm. She joined Machins as a Senior Associate Solicitor in September 2023.
Laura predominantly deals with divorce and financial settlements and has dealt with cases ranging from low to high net worth matters for a variety of clients. She also regularly advises clients in relation to children matters arising from parents separating. She takes a pragmatic and sensible approach, and prides herself on giving no-nonsense advice while remaining empathetic to every client’s individual needs. Laura is regularly contacted by friends or family members of previous clients who have recommended her which is a testament to the outcomes she achieves and her cost-conscious approach.
Laura is a committed member of Resolution, an organisation which promotes the need for a practical and non-confrontational approach in all Family matters. She is also accredited as a Specialist Family Lawyer by Resolution in both Complex Financial Remedy cases (low to medium net worth) and Private Law Children cases.
In 2024 Laura will be presenting a webinar for family lawyers:-
Conduct in Financial Remedy Proceedings – A Guide to the Court’s Approach – Webinar – Available to view from Tuesday 8th October
According to the Office for National Statistics, 41% of marriages will end in divorce. Frequently, one or both partners will have an interest in a business. Divorce or separation can prove challenging if so. With many business owners following the advice of their accountants to utilise their spouse’s unused tax allowances, it’s commonplace to find
It has been widely reported this week in the mainstream media that a couple had their divorce finalised in error following a mistake by solicitors which a senior judge has refused to overturn. The couple were separated and had applied for a divorce which had reached conditional order stage of the divorce. It would appear
Termination of Parental Responsibility is rarely made by the Court and only ever in exceptional circumstances. Following a recent private family law case acting for a mother who successfully obtained a termination of Parental Responsibility order to end the father’s Parental Responsibility, we asked Laura Martin-Read, Senior Associate Solicitor to explain what Parental Responsibility is
While the country and our politicians have been focussing on the General Election, a few employment updates managed to get over the line in the scramble following the dissolution of Parliament. Here are the key developments. Please bear in mind, however, that they all still need some work and fine tuning, so are likely to
Parents, carers and pregnant women now benefit from greater employment protections relating to flexible working and redundancy. The changes, which came into effect on April 6, include: This runs alongside new laws that give workers more flexibility over where and when they work, unless there are business reasons not to, as the Employment Relations (Flexible
From 29th April 2024, there are significant changes to the Family Procedure Rules, promoting the court’s powers to encourage parties to attend non-court dispute resolution at every stage in proceedings, for matters involving children and/or a financial dispute. The court will require parties to file and serve Form FM5, setting out their views on
Millions of employees now have the right to request flexible working to determine where and when they work. The new rights are part of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill, which came into effect on 6 April. Flexible working is a broad term and can relate to working hours or pattern including part-time, term-time, flexi-time,
Jeremy Hunt delivered his Spring Budget on 6 March, and it will probably be his last major fiscal announcement ahead of this year’s anticipated general election. With a focus on reducing tax for the working population and helping parents, there were several announcements in the Budget that affect businesses and employees which I consider and
Father’s Day is a special day to be enjoyed with children and family however unfortunately the day can be difficult for some fathers who are unable to spend the day with their child. Whilst it is hoped that most separated parents would be able to agree the arrangements for special dates such as Father’s/Mother’s Day,
The High Court has settled a dispute relating to how much of a couple’s assets should be considered matrimonial and how much should be excluded during divorce proceedings. The case involved a couple who ran a hotel business together. The husband was 49 and the wife was 56. They had been married for 17 years
The number of ‘No Fault’ divorce applications has fallen significantly following the initial surge when the new system came into effect in 2022. Government figures show that in July to September 2023, there were 27,290 divorce applications. That was down 12% compared with the same quarter in 2022, which was the second quarter following the