Family insights

For many couples the New Year starts with a decision by one or other partner to end the relationship, leading to a busy time for divorce lawyers.

A reconciliation contract is made after marriage and seeks to try and make a last attempt at keeping the parties together

For separated families, Christmas contact arrangements need to be precisely stipulated in advance.

Carrying out a 'DIY divorce' as opposed to using a lawyer has its risks. Make sure you're aware of your rights.

More couples are deciding to cohabit (live together) rather than get married or enter into a civil partnership. But does this make any difference as far as legal rights are concerned?

How a Jersey court decides how best to divide the marital assets in a divorce

There has been a lot of media coverage lately regarding “activists” who are seeking reform of the current divorce laws in the UK (and in Jersey) to include a “no fault” way of bringing about a divorce. What are the pros and cons?

With more adult children returning to live at home, what happens if their parents have divorced?

Separated or divorced? What you need to know before taking your children abroad

Anyone involved in relationship breakdown needs to be extremely careful on social media

When couples with children separate, one of their primary concerns, whether they are married or not, is ensuring that the children are supported financially. In legal terms, this is known as child maintenance.

For many divorcing couples, coming to an agreement over their finances is often the most difficult part of the marriage breakup; and in virtually all cases, divorcing couples need legal advice on both capital and income.

There are a number of simple steps that clients can take to help keep costs to a reasonable level.

The fanfare for the arrival of divorce Friday as it appears every year in the newspapers shortly after Christmas.

The new Law completely changes much of the previous law regarding parents and their children. The new law also impacts on, and gives rights to, people such as grandparents and step parents.

Increasingly family lawyers are being asked about inherited assets and how these should be treated when the marriage breaks down.

Some statistics relating to divorce and the impact on children have the power to shock.

Divorce is unfortunately a booming industry both in the UK and here in Jersey, and all too often the legal costs involved can be financially disastrous for the couple involved.

Conduct during a divorce has become an issue - hiding assets and the effect on divorce proceedings.

Does divorce favour women more than men in particular for high earners?

Family lawyers are familiar with their client turning up at the office with financial documents that they have found whilst searching at home.

Since December 2005, gay couples in the UK have had the right to enter into what is called a civil partnership.

Unfair family courts and how fathers are increasingly being prevented from seeing their children.

Unless the Island keeps pace with international pressures and demands to improve and adapt its legislation, our image as a centre of financial excellence and stability will be damaged.

Are you thinking of getting married in the next few months? Whether it is for the first time or not there will be excitement and a justifiable sense of romance. But there are also the ‘boring bits’: lots of sensible decisions and hard choices that must be made right now.

Many of us have read in the popular press about extremely wealthy couples who divorce and the court is asked to divide their assets between them.

A familiar experience for readers who have encountered a divorce or a separation is that of bitterness and acrimony. Possibly months of unpleasantness will have been suffered and to add insult to injury, you will have paid for the privilege.

In recent months there has been much publicity given to the idea of couples entering into a pre-nuptial agreement prior to their marriage. Much confusion, however, still surrounds these agreements together with their implications for marriage and divorce.

Statistics show that the average person who initiates divorce proceedings in the UK will spend over a year considering whether to divorce their spouse before they proceed.

In the increasingly commercialised world of Christmas, it is sometimes forgotten that the focus of the festive season should be the family and children in particular.

The definition of ‘parent’ can, in certain instances, extend beyond that of biological, step or adoptive parent.

The most common type of harassment cases brought before the Jersey Courts involve domestic abuse.

Children are, sadly, often overlooked by parents during the course of family law proceedings. This is usually completely unintentional, but nonetheless parents tend to lose themselves in the emotional turbulence of the situation.

Viberts recently successfully acted for a wife during divorce proceedings involving the division of assets. It was a complex and unusual scenario with a focus on the matrimonial home.

Cohabiting couples are often referred to as “common-law marriages”. But unlike married couples, cohabiting couples in Jersey have very little protection unless they have a legal ownership of property (i.e. named on the title deeds).

Gone are the days when a courtroom battle was the only option for married couples who could not agree on what should happen to their finances on the breakdown of the relationship.

According to statistics published in the UK in 2014 the average couple spends £44,000 on their separation. Viberts have launched a new fee structure that will cut both the financial and emotional cost of ending a marriage.

Why cohabiting couples ought to protect their interests with a cohabitation or equity agreement

Are you confused what certain legal terms mean? This helpful family law jargon buster guide explains what most of the commonly used legal terms mean.