In England and Wales, around 150,000 marriages end in divorce each year.
These separations affect almost 150,000 children too. Divorce and the effects of divorce are the most common concern of family law, but it also protects people and their property, while they are in relationships, from violence and financial exploitation.
“You will probably need immediate ‘first aid’ advice about children, money, housing and contact issues”
Beers LLP will provide the assistance and support you need work with the utmost empathy and sensitivity.
Beers LLP family law team has a wealth of expertise and experience, bringing clarity to what is a difficult time. It also pays to have solicitors who see supportiveness and empathy as part of the service.
We’ll not only advise you on the best legal action to take and see you through that, but we can help with additional support services too, directing you to counselling organisations and support services where needed, such as women’s shelters.
Beers LLP accredited specialists are members of Resolution (formerly the Solicitors Family Law Association).
Family break-ups leave so many practicalities to resolve.
Many young couples choose to limit the potential for damage with pre-nuptial or cohabitation agreements. Equally, we can help divorcing couples to deal with any joint assets, property or investments they have – there may even be ways to prevent a divorce such as an informal or trial separation, and of course, we’ll discuss all of the options carefully so your decision is informed and supported.
Of course our family law team can also play a crucial role regarding the welfare of any children involved, where residence, parental access, maintenance payments and care order issues can all arise.
In cases where domestic violence is involved, we’ll discuss and help arrange for non-molestation and occupation orders, injunctions and matrimonial home rights to protect you and your interests, and we’ll help you with any legal action you want to take.
In all cases, we ensure the advice we give our family law clients is clear, cost-effective, thorough and sensitive to your and your family’s needs.
We know how important family is to you. Regrettably however, relationships and marriages breakdown leaving upset and practical matters to be sorted out. We at Beers are here to help you through the process so that you and your children can take your lives forward into a new chapter. We will provide you with sound advice based on experience and will handle your case from beginning to end with compassion and professionalism.
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We are able to provide you with initial advice of 30 minutes either over the telephone or in person which may help you decide if, how and when to proceed.
We will deal with your divorce from petition through to decree absolute. The majority of cases are undefended and do not require an attendance at Court.
A Civil Partnership Dissolution is for those Civil Partners ie same sex couple, who wish to bring their partnership to an end. This process is similar to a divorce.
This process is similar to a divorce but at the end of the process the couple are still legally married. This process suits parties who do not wish to be divorced and there are sometimes financial reasons to keep the legal marriage in existence.
You may feel that you are not ready to divorce just yet. It may be that you need however to sort out finances. This can be done through negotiation and any agreement formalised in a Deed of Separation providing you with some certainty and security for the future.
If you are thinking of living together, then you may wish to formalise the terms of your agreement to cohabit to secure your finances in the event of separation in the future. We can tailor an agreement specifically to your needs
A Pre-Nuptial Agreement ie a formal Deed entered into before a marriage takes place can help to provide some certainty if the marriage were to break down. However at the moment only a court can decide in the event of a divorce, whether parties should be bound by the agreement they entered into before the marriage took place. A Pre-Nuptial Agreement is often persuasive to Court Judges however, in many cases, provided the requisite criteria are met i.e that both parties have given full disclosure of their financial positions at the time of the agreement, that they have freely entered into the agreement and received independent legal advice.
In the majority of cases this can be done by negotiating a settlement after each party has provided disclosure of their respective finances. This may involve dealing with a transfer of ownership of property or sale and division of the proceeds, payment of other sums of money or things such as policies or shares, maintenance and pensions. Where there is agreement it is likely that all matters will be formalised into a formal Consent Order and possibly includea clean break ( an order which means that neither party can make any further claims against the other). A final order by agreement is reached in most cases without there being a Court Hearing.
It is likely that in the future there will be same sex divorces, which we will also be pleased to advise.
All aspects including parental responsibility Agreements/Orders, Residence, Contact, Prohibited Steps orders, Specific Issue Orders, Special Guardianship and names. We can advise you on the best way forward
We are able to advise you of the best method of dealing with problems which arise. Usually a Non Molestation Order and/or Occupation Order will provide at least a period of protection. These orders will require the wrong doer usually to keep away from their former partner or person that they were associated with and possibly require them to move out of a home and/or keep out of a specified area.
Your case will be handled by Helen Saunders who has worked at Beers for over two decades. She is a Chartered Legal Executive and an Accredited Specialist of Resolution (www.resolution.org.uk) . She will act in accordance with Resolution’s Code of Conduct which promotes dealing with matters in a non aggressive and non antagonistic manner. She is approachable, straight talking and will aim to achieve the best possible outcome taking account of all the circumstances.Helen is a mother to two children and has a special interest in cases involving children with special needs. She is a regular attender at Devon Parent Carer Voice events.
We are able to offer some fixed fee arrangements for straightforward undefended divorces.
Helen Saunders is a family lawyer and an accredited Specialist of “Resolution” (formerly known as Solicitors Family Law Association). She joined Beers in 1988 and has been practising solely in family law since about 1995. As a mother of two children, Helen fully appreciates the pressures placed upon a marriage by modern family life.
Helen has a special interest in dealing with cases involving children with special needs. Areas in which she is regularly giving advice include:
Helen was brought up in Kingsbridge and continues to live locally, living and working within the local community.
