5 December 2017
Expat divorce in Dubai – the challenges of child relocation and navigating UAE residency visa options
We represent expatriate families going through marriage breakdown in the UAE in respect of their rights or indeed risks if their divorce takes place in England. The first question that we are usually asked is “Should I stay in Dubai or should I go back to England?” The response is usually to ask “Can you stay or must you go?” In the UAE, residency is based on sponsorship by either an employer or a spouse and without a sponsor you cannot legally reside in the UAE. It gets worse, particularly when children are involved.
24 August 2017
Reconciliation Contracts – an alternative to divorce?
As I read the stop press news last week about the possibility Angelina Jolie might be pressing pause on her divorce, given Brad’s reported willingness to address his drinking problem, it got me wondering about whether they were considering a Reconciliation Contract which is a popular post-nup tool in the US.
23 August 2017
Brexit and relocating with children overseas – mind the immigration and family law gaps
According to the Office of National Statistics, over a quarter (27.5%) of live births in England and Wales in 2015 were to women born outside the UK. It’s reasonable to assume that a number of other births were children with foreign fathers. What will happen to such families comprised of EU citizens when Britain leaves the EU?
17 August 2017
Parenthood and surrogacy developments in France
Unlike the “halfway house” position in the UK, all forms of surrogacy are strictly forbidden in France. A contract between a surrogate and the intended parents is void and there are criminal consequences. Any intermediary (e.g. agencies, doctors and clinics) would also be committing a criminal offence and the penalty is doubled if they are acting on a commercial basis.
17 May 2017
Building resilience and keeping perspective when divorcing a narcissist
Three years ago, I wrote the blog “The challenges in divorcing a narcissist” in collaboration with Dr Paul Hokemeyer. My interest was in part a reaction to my clients, who over the years often characterised their spouses as suffering from a narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), and in part to help me work better with the divorce cases that I consider “the difficult ones”. Increasingly, I have since found myself representing families where the complexity is not always the resources (i.e. the wealth) or the international dimension but the people who are involved (although it is very often all three at once).