Is my family law solicitor able to help me with my divorce?
A family law solicitor generally means a solicitor who is conversant with family law, which includes divorce. Some solicitors even specialise in this area of law and will be able to help you with any issues that may arise along the way.
Some specialist family law solicitors are members of the Law Society’s Family Law Accreditation scheme, which approves solicitors who have in-depth legal knowledge and who can deal with family law cases in a particularly skilful manner. They also approve solicitors for the Family Law Accreditation scheme- Advanced, which means that the solicitors involved can deal with particularly complex cases.
Finding a family law solicitor
Your family solicitor may have acted for you in other matters previously, and you may feel comfortable with them. However, if you want to find a specialist, many family law solicitors will offer a free or fixed-fee initial appointment to determine whether they can help with your case. Likewise, you may ask any questions you have prepared about your circumstances.
If you are looking to get divorced then a family law solicitor can assist you throughout the process with a range of matters, including:
- Refer you to a third-party mediator, if it is agreed that this may help them come to a settlement with the other party in the divorce. Your solicitor will also be able to advise you during and after such mediation, to ensure that any agreement reached is protecting your best interests
- If third-party mediation has not been attempted or has failed, solicitors can act as intermediaries in negotiations between their client and the other party, by communicating with the other party’s solicitor. This process can be particularly lengthy if there are large amounts of property and assets to be divided.
- Solicitors can help with observing the strict deadlines for official documentation, such as the divorce petition and the divorce affidavit. There are many documents that need to be completed and filed correctly and this can be complicated for someone who is new to divorce
- Solicitors can help prepare the Statement of Arrangements, which must detail how matters are to be settled with regard to any children from the relationship. The court will require detailed information about future planning for the children by the divorcing parents
If you are financially eligible then legal aid may be available for your divorce case. Legal aid is funded by the Legal Services Commission (LSC), and only specialist family law firms are able to work on legal aid divorce cases.
The Government is currently looking to implement significant changes to the availability of legal aid. As such, in order to secure funding you are advised to instruct a specialist family law solicitor who will be well-acquainted with any ongoing changes.
ibution towards maintenance of the couple’s children. He bought another property and moved there. The couple cashed in a joint insurance policy to assist him to finance his new home.