Sally Clark from Barnes Family Law answers the top 5 divorce questions you asked MMB Magazine, from divorcing in Covid to preparing for Christmas arrangements.
How do I divorce during Covid-19 ?
Divorce proceedings can now be issued on-line and there is no need to attend Court. The process of divorce changes your legal status from a married person to a single person.
You can apply for a divorce on-line from your own home and it is a fairly easy process to follow. You do need to be aware however that if even you do divorce then you need to sort out financial issues because unless you deal with this properly your ex partner can bring a claim against you at any point going forwards.
The on-line divorce process does not sort out the important practical issues such as where you will live, how much money will you have going forwards and who is going care you’re your children and when.
It is very important to make sure that you seek specialist legal advice from a family specialist on how to sort out the finances and also arrangements for the care of your children. Lots of services are offering telephone or virtual appointments and it is important that you do obtain proper advice.
- If we go into another lockdown can I make my partner leave the property?
If the family home is a jointly owned property or if you are married then you are both legally entitled to live there and come and go as you choose. Neither of you can exclude the other without a Court order or police intervention. If you find yourself in a situation where you are worried about your safety or the safety of your children it is vitally important that you seek urgent legal advice or urgent intervention from your local police safeguarding team.
If you do not have immediate safety concerns but are struggling to envisage how you will manage to get through another period of being confined in the same property then you could approach a family mediation service so that an accredited mediator can help you to work out short term and then longer term arrangements to make things more manageable. It is far better to try to work together with the assistance of a mediator, if possible ,and subject to the caveat above, rather than spending lots of money and time in arguing through solicitors and/or the Courts.
Mediation can help you to establish ground rules, occupation of the property and then ownership going forwards. Conflict escalates unless addressed so do seek help when you are finding things difficult.
If you are wanting to find a mediator in your local area you may wish to contact the Family Mediation Council https://www.familymediationcouncil.org.uk/find-local-mediator/
You will find a list with contact details of accredited family mediators in your local area.
There is legal aid funding for family mediation if you meet the financial eligibility criteria. In any event mediation is a lot cheaper than arguing between solicitors and/or going through the Court process.
If however you at the stage whereby you want to find out what your legal rights are then do contact a family specialist and arrange an appointment. Whilst there is lots of information on many different websites not all of it is a) correct and b) applies to you and therefore it is important that you seek proper advice tailored to your individual circumstances.
- I am worried about arrangements for Christmas. How am I going to sort out the children?
Now is the time to starting addressing this issue. Christmas is probably the most emotive time of the year and can be extremely stressed if you are separated and trying to agree with whom your children will wake up with on Christmas Morning.
You may still live in the same property or you may have separately and live close by. In either case it may be possible to each spend time with the children on the special days. It may be however that you live some distance apart and sharing the day just isn’t feasible. With the added difficulty of Covid-19 this brings complications as to what you legally can and cannot do in terms of family and other social gatherings.
If at all possible it is far better to try to come to some compromise so that your children can enjoy time over the festive season in a conflict free environment and without worrying whether mum or dad is ok or whether they are going to fight at handovers.
If you are struggling to talk to each other or communicate in a civil/neutral way, then you may want to engage a family mediator to help you draw up a parenting plan so that you can agree a template of arrangements to assist you to move forward. Copies of such plans can alternatively be found on the CAFCASS website where there is a wealth of associated and very helpful guidance and information https://www.cafcass.gov.uk/grown-ups/parents-and-carers/divorce-and-separation/parenting-plan/
If you are concerned and need specialist advice then absolutely you need to speak to a family specialist.
- I want to separate. We are not married. What are my rights?
There is no such things as a common law marriage. Cohabitees do not have the same legal rights as married people. Legal rights are based upon property law principles and also principles under the Children Act 1989.
If you are concerned about whether you can stay in your home and what your rights are then you need to seek specialist legal advice. Similarly, if you have children, then you may be entitled to receive Child Maintenance if the children are in your care. There is an on-line calculator available on the Child Maintenance Service website https://www.gov.uk/calculate-child-maintenance
You may be entitled in some circumstances to other assistance and again it is important that you speak to a family legal specialist.
- I am separating and want to know who gets the kids?
The starting point in law is that children should spend significant amounts of time with each parent as long as it is safe for them to do so. If you have any concerns about the safety of your children in the other parent’s care then it is extremely important that you seek urgent legal advice from a family specialist.
If you cannot agree arrangements for the care of your children – or every time you try to discuss this very important issue you end up in an argument – then you can refer yourselves to a specialist and accredited family mediator. Through the process of mediation you can draw up a parenting plan to decide what the arrangements for your children should be going forward and also to look at issues such as schooling, birthdays, Christmas, arrangements over the school holidays and also to help you to improve your communication as parents. Family mediation is a non-confrontational, time effective and cost effective approach to sorting matters out concerning your children.
If your children are ages 9 years or older then some mediators who are specially trained as Child Inclusive Family mediators can speak to your children to find out how they are feeling and to involve them in working things out for your family whilst of course making clear that as parents you make the decision.
If there are pressing urgent issues and/or if you have safeguarding concerns then you may need the help of the Court to help you work things out and again in this situation it is important that you do seek specialist legal advice.
At Barnes Clark Family law we offer an Accredited mediation service run by Sally Clark who is a highly experienced accredited Child Inclusive Family Mediator.
We also operate as a niche family legal service and have a vast amount of experience in dealing with Private Children matters. We pride ourselves on providing pragmatic and robust advice tailored to your situation. We are further highly experienced in assisting parties to obtain the best financial outcome following relationship breakdown.
For information as to how we can assist you as mediators or as lawyers and/or to book a free initial legal consultation contact us now on 01423 636272 or enquiries@barnesclarkfamiy.law