24 February 2016
Rights of cohabitants - setting the record straight
The recently reported case of John Hoggins’ failed claim against a £650,000 house he bought for his girlfriend, Greta Cerniauskaite, has generated some interesting headlines. Reports of “Plumbing tycoon's ex girlfriend wins share of fortune” and “British millionaire ordered to hand luxury £650,000 house to Lithuanian ex-girlfriend” add to the myth that cohabitants have legal rights.
25 November 2015
Impact on UK immigration status when relationships break down
As covered in our earlier blog on how separation and divorce could affect your right to remain in the UK, the breakdown of a marriage for a couple with an international background can be particularly difficult if one party relies on the other’s immigration status to stay here.
21 October 2015
Everyone should be free to choose between marriage or civil partnership
Today a bill was presented to Parliament calling for civil partnerships to be extended to heterosexual couples. At the moment, straight couples can only marry and are banned from entering into civil partnerships, whereas same sex couples can choose either option.
14 January 2014
The New Year brings welcome changes for same sex couples – but mind the gaps
2014 is set to be a historic year in the realm of family lives following a recent Government announcement. January is traditionally viewed as one of the bleakest months of the year with newspaper headlines boldly proclaiming that every other day is beating the previous one for the highest rates of people seeking divorces. However, amidst those difficult, and rather repetitive, headlines is the recent announcement by Culture Secretary Maria Miller declaring that the first same sex marriages in England and Wales can take place from 29 March 2014, several months earlier than originally anticipated.
23 October 2013
Call for changes to family law - “the dinosaurs have had their day”
These were the words of The Honourable Mr Justice Coleridge in his call for a “root and branch overhaul” of family law legislation and procedure in England and Wales to ensure that “even the more difficult cases can be solved in a much more sophisticated and modern way”.
