Divorce without blame from today
Can I have an amicable divorce? is a question that we get asked more and more these days as family lawyers. At Wolferstans, we have seen a noticeable shift in how people wish to deal with the divorce process and the division of the matrimonial assets. There is much less focus on wanting to place blame and more and more clients tell us they want to resolve their issues in an amicable and respectful way, putting their children at the centre of their decisions.
Wolferstans’ Family Law team includes three trained collaborative lawyers; Vikki Martin, Phil Thorneycroft and Rebecca Moloney who each have extensive experience of advising in high value divorces and in cases with complex assets.
Our specialist collaborative lawyers can offer another way to resolve financial and children issues following separation. The Collaborative law process aims to allow clients to resolve matters concerning family breakdown and separation away from the court process. Both parties have their own collaboratively trained solicitors, and the parties and solicitors meet at a round table meeting to discuss and agree a way forward to resolve any issues between them. This can include financial issues and children issues and means that the parties have more control over the process and can work together to achieve the best outcome for all involved, without the need to go to court.
Today (6 April 2022) marks the biggest change in divorce laws that many of us have seen in our lifetime, with introducing the long-awaited no fault divorce process. This means that it will no longer be necessary for one person to blame the other for the breakdown of the marriage and that separating couples will be able to divorce by simply saying that their marriage has irretrievably broken down. This shift, along with the Collaborative law process, should make it easier to achieve better outcomes for all concerned when a relationship ends.
There will also no longer be an option to contest or defend the divorce, meaning we will no longer see examples of clients being trapped by their partner contesting the divorce. The option for one party to claim the costs of the divorce from the other will also be removed in the new process, but this does not prevent the parties negotiating on how the fees are to be paid.
Of course, in some relationship breakdowns no matter how reasonable one party may wish to be, the other may not be of a similar mindset and in those cases, if an agreement cannot be negotiated then the court process may be the only option. At Wolferstans, our experienced matrimonial team are also able to advise and represent clients in those circumstances.
If you would like more information about the new no fault divorce process or the collaborative law process and how this might work for you, contact our specialist family lawyers, who can advise you on all aspects of family law to help achieve the best outcome for you and your family.
Call us on 01752 292201 or click 'chat here' below to speak to one of the team now.