Parental Responsibility in Assisted Reproduction
As the number of same-sex couple families has increased by over 25% in the last 10 years, our Family team has received a growing number of enquiries in respect of who has parental responsibility.
As the number of same-sex couple families has increased by over 25% in the last 10 years, our Family team has received a growing number of enquiries in respect of who has parental responsibility.
The Legal 500’s results for 2022 have been announced and we’re extremely proud to have ranked in 9 practice areas (Employment, Corporate & Commercial, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Property, Family, Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate, Contentious Probate, Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury) up one more than last year.
In order to qualify for legal aid, survivors are required to provide evidence of domestic abuse taking place. This is to ensure that legal aid funding is targeted at those who are most in need. From 1st October 2021, health professionals will no longer be able to charge for providing this evidence in accordance with Section 80 of the Domestic Abuse Act.
From Monday 13th September 2021, divorce applications must be submitted online using MyHMCTS, replacing the paper D8 form. This is being codified through Practice Direction 36X of the Family Procedure Rules.
Helen Thewlis, Head of Family Law at Ramsdens, has featured in the latest edition of Topic UK, where she shares how helping families is a way of life for her.
When going through a divorce it is easy for animosity between parents to develop exponentially, often to the detriment of the entire family, including the children. This can lead to the children’s needs being forgotten when in fact it should be one of, if not the most important consideration during the divorce proceedings.
Ministers have announced that the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, which will allow married couples to divorce without assigning blame, will come into force on 6th April 2022.
Pets are commonplace in UK households and often likened to human members of the family.
The long-awaited Domestic Abuse Bill shall become law after the House of Lords approved the bill just days before the end of the parliamentary session this week.
Last month the Government has confirmed their plan to make non-fatal strangulation a specific criminal offence under the new Domestic Abuse Bill.
On 22 March 2021, the Ministry of Justice opened a consultation in respect of increasing selected Court fees for the first time since 2016. The consultation also proposes to increase the income threshold for eligibility for Help with Fees, which will see more people becoming eligible for assistance with fees.
This week we’re supporting ‘UK Says No More week – a national campaign aimed at ending domestic abuse and sexual violence across the UK.
The chancellor has announced a £15million package for support for domestic abuse programmes. This follows a previous increase in funding for domestic abuse services during the first national lockdown last year amid the huge rise in domestic abuse and has almost doubled the funding towards domestic abuse in the 2020 budget.
People often believe that issues arising from separation such as divorce, financial matters and child arrangements can only be resolved through Court proceedings.
Family Mediation Week is this year taking place between the 18th-22nd January. The annual initiative creates awareness of the many benefits of reaching mutual post-divorce agreements, rather than heading to court.
Domestic abuse victims will be able to “Ask for Ani” in pharmacies, as part of a code word scheme backed by the Government and Safeguarding Minister Victoria Atkins.
As we bring in the new year, resolutions are at the forefront of everyone’s mind, bringing with it fresh starts and changes. For this reason divorce is often one of the top resolutions that people make, hence the reason January is dubbed “divorce month”.
Guidance published on 4 January 2021 confirms that once again the government recognises the importance of children from separated parents being able to spend time with both of their parents. Children are permitted to leave one household to spend time with their other parent in another household, if it is medically safe to do so.
On 5th January 2021, the Domestic Abuse Bill returned to the House of Lords for its second reading after almost three years of delays.
Employers will welcome new guidance from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD – the professional body for HR and people development) and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which aims to help them deal with employees suffering domestic abuse.
Divorce is often portrayed by the media as unpleasant, nasty and sour. However we believe that with the right advice, support and guidance, a ‘good divorce’, based on mutual cooperation, fairness and amicability, can be achieved.
The pronouncement of Decree Absolute legally ends a marriage in England and Wales, but unless you resolve the financial consequences of the marriage breakdown, your former spouse may be able to make a future financial claim against you, even if you acquire the asset after your divorce.
The Ramsdens Family department are showing their support for Good Divorce Week 2020 by offering free 30 minute virtual advice sessions to families.
Recent statistics from the Office for National Statistics show there were 107,599 opposite-sex divorces in 2019, an increase from 90,871 in 2018. There were also 822 same-sex divorces, compared to 428 in 2018.
It is National Pro Bono and Trustees week, a chance to celebrate the breadth and impact of the charity work undertaken by the legal professionals at Ramsdens.
Former professional rugby league player, Jamie Jones-Buchanan has spoken out against domestic abuse after losing his cousin, Bethany Fields who was stabbed to death by her ex-partner in Huddersfield last year. Bethany’s abuser, Paul Crowther has received a life sentence for the attack.
If a client cannot afford to travel to the office, perhaps due to financial control, or is unable to leave the house, perhaps because of their abuser, we are able to deal with matters over the telephone and/or email. We also work with the Local Authority and local charities to try to source funds for the client to get the help they need, whether that be funds for public transport or a place at refuge.
We are delighted to have achieved another year of great rankings in the Legal 500.
This year we’ve ranked in eight practice areas across our Business and Personal services (including Corporate and Commercial, Commercial Litigation, Employment, Commercial Property, Family, Contentious Probate, Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate and Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury: Claimant) and 20 solicitors have been recommended for their work.
We are seeing an increasing number of enquiries from single parents who are confused by the apparent ever changing government guidance of social interaction due to the impact of COVID-19. A support bubble is a close support network between a household with only one adult in the home (known as a single-adult household) and one other household of any size.
An Occupation Order is a Court Order that can be obtained to specify who can and cannot live in a property in order to protect victims of domestic abuse (which not only includes physical abuse but other forms such as emotional or financial abuse).