Family problems rarely involve just one legal issue. If you are separating, you may need to consider what will happen to the family home, how your finances will be divided and what arrangements should be made for your children. You may already be facing a dispute or simply want to understand your position before making any important decisions.
Our family law solicitors in London advise on a broad range of private family law matters, including divorce, financial settlements, private children matters, relationship agreements and disputes between unmarried couples. We assist clients who want to resolve matters amicably as well as those facing more complex family cases or court proceedings.
Our private family law team is headed by Sobiah Hussain, Partner, Solicitor-Advocate and Collaborative Law Practitioner. Our experienced family lawyers have a wide range of family law experience and provide practical advice based on your circumstances and what you ultimately want to achieve.
How Our London Family Law Solicitors Can Help
Every family is different, so the advice you receive should reflect your individual circumstances. Our lawyers assist clients with a range of family law matters, including:
- Divorce and separation
- Financial settlements and financial remedy proceedings
- High net worth divorce
- Child arrangements and other children law matters
- Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements
- Cohabitation agreements
- TOLATA and unmarried property disputes
- Islamic divorce
- Domestic abuse and protective orders
Where agreement is possible, we can help you negotiate a practical way forward without creating unnecessary conflict. Where it is not, we can advise on court proceedings and ensure your position is properly presented.
Why Choose Reeds Family Law Solicitors in London?
Our approach to client service starts with understanding what you actually need to achieve. Family cases can become focused on individual disagreements, particularly where communication between former partners has deteriorated. Our role is to help you understand which issues are legally important, what your realistic options are and how different decisions could affect you in the future.
Our team deals with a wide range of family circumstances, from relatively straightforward separations to complex family disputes involving substantial finances or difficult children law matters.
We can provide advice from the early stages of a problem through to negotiations and court proceedings, adapting our approach as the case develops.
Our London Office
3rd Floor
20 Farringdon Street
London
EC4A 4AB
Contact our family law solicitors in London to discuss your circumstances and find out how we can help.
Family Law Solicitors Across Our Other Locations
Reeds provides private family law advice across a number of our offices. If you are based outside London, you can also speak to our family law solicitors in Oxford, Reading, Swindon, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes and Eastbourne.
Sobiah Hussain
Partner, Solicitor-Advocate, Collaborative Law Practitioner & Head of Private Family Law
Meet the teamOur Family Law Services in London
No-fault divorce has made the process of legally ending a marriage more straightforward, but the divorce itself does not resolve your finances.
A financial settlement may need to deal with property, savings, investments, pensions, debts, income and business interests. It is important to understand the overall financial position before agreeing how those assets should be divided.
Our family law solicitors can advise on voluntary financial disclosure and negotiations as well as formal financial remedy proceedings where an agreement cannot be reached.
This can include reviewing financial disclosure, identifying where further information is required, considering valuations and negotiating the terms of a settlement. Where an agreement is reached, we can also advise on obtaining a financial consent order.
One issue we often see is people focusing on getting the divorce itself finalised without giving the same attention to their financial position. A Final Order ends the marriage, but it does not automatically bring financial claims between former spouses to an end. We would usually encourage clients to consider the financial position alongside the divorce, even where the separation is amicable.
Some financial cases require a greater level of investigation and attention to detail. A high net worth divorce might involve business interests, investment portfolios, substantial pensions, trusts, multiple properties or assets held overseas. There may also be disagreement about the value or ownership of particular assets or whether financial disclosure is complete.
Our lawyers have a range of experience dealing with financial issues and can work with accountants, pension experts, valuers and other professionals where specialist evidence is required.
Importantly, the value of a proposed settlement is only part of the picture. How assets are divided can have significant practical consequences.
Clients understandably tend to focus on the value of the overall settlement, but the detail of how assets are divided can be just as important. Keeping a particular asset is not necessarily the better outcome simply because it has a higher headline value. We also need to consider issues such as liquidity, pensions, tax implications, housing needs and each person’s longer-term financial position.
Our family law solicitors have experience across a broad range of private children matters that can arise following separation.
We can advise on where children should live, the time they spend with each parent, holidays, relocation, schooling and other important decisions affecting their upbringing.
Many private children matters can be resolved without court proceedings. We can advise on negotiation, mediation and other ways of reaching an agreement.
Where this is not possible, we can assist with applications for Child Arrangements Orders, Specific Issue Orders and Prohibited Steps Orders.
Children’s circumstances also change. An arrangement that worked when parents first separated may become unsuitable as children get older, start a new school or as either parent’s circumstances change. We can advise on existing arrangements as well as new disputes.
We also advise clients who want greater certainty about their financial arrangements before a dispute arises.
This includes:
- Pre-nuptial agreements
- Post-nuptial agreements
- Cohabitation agreements
- Separation agreements
These agreements can be particularly relevant where someone has substantial assets, business interests, property, family wealth or an expected inheritance.
Our solicitors can advise on the proposed terms, financial disclosure and the steps that should be taken when preparing an agreement.
Unmarried couples do not automatically have the same financial rights as married couples when a relationship ends.
This can become particularly important where a couple owns property together or one person believes they have an interest in a property that is legally owned by the other.
Our family law solicitors advise on claims under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA), including disputes about beneficial ownership and the sale of property.
These cases can depend heavily on the evidence surrounding the ownership of the property, financial contributions and what the parties intended. We can assess your position and advise on negotiation or court proceedings where necessary.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, obtaining a Final Order does not automatically resolve your financial claims. Obtaining a Final Order ends the marriage but does not necessarily bring financial claims to an end. If you have reached an agreement about finances, you should obtain advice about having it incorporated into an appropriate court order.
Not necessarily. Many parents reach an agreement through direct discussions, solicitors or mediation. Court proceedings may be necessary where an agreement cannot be reached, there are safeguarding concerns or a particular issue requires a decision.
Full financial disclosure is an important part of reaching a financial settlement. If information appears to be missing, we can advise on appropriate requests for further disclosure. During financial remedy proceedings, the court also has powers to require information and documents to be provided.
Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to claim against you ex partner’s property. However, the rules are different from those applying on divorce. Your rights may depend on legal ownership, financial contributions, agreements between you and other evidence concerning your respective interests in the property.
Yes, of course. Taking legal advice does not commit you to divorce or court proceedings. Understanding your position in relation to finances, property and children can help you make a more informed decision about what to do next.
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