Mental capacity concerns in family mediation

Family dynamics are complex at the best of times. When one family member is unwell, stress and worry can quickly lead to friction and mistrust among siblings and parents alike.

Hi, I’m Olivia, a family lawyer and mediator at Kingsley Napley LLP working alongside four other brilliant mediators in our team. In this short blog, I set out what you can expect from your first meeting with a family mediator.

For separated or divorced families, Christmas time is often an emotionally charged time of year, fraught with practical challenges as parents try to agree contact time and arrangements for Christmas events. Claire Wood shares some tips on how best to prepare for the issues which may arise at Christmas.

According to the PDSA’s 2024 report on pet populations, over 51% of UK adults currently own a pet.  To many their pets are not “just pets”, but beloved family members and a core part of their family unit.  If something unforeseen should happen in the future, most would want the best for their pets.  Often, however, when an unplanned major live event happens, such as a divorce or the death of a pet owner, thought has not been given to what should happen to the pets.

It is 16 May 2022. Sotherby’s, New York. A collection is being auctioned, achieving the highest total from a single sale in the auction house’s 277-year history. $922.2 million. The culmination of a bitter divorce between Harry Macklowe (property mogul) and Linda Macklowe (prominent art curator).

When a party sits down to prepare their financial disclosure on divorce, thoughts can turn to the valuable or sentimental items which may have been gifted between spouses or received from family members during the marriage. The idea of having to share or relinquish such items to a soon-to-be-ex-spouse can leave some people clutching their pearls (quite literally), but is this ever actually required in financial proceedings on divorce?

Assets are typically placed in a trust for legitimate purposes, such as safeguarding wealth for future generations. However, arguments that a trust is in fact a “sham” created to hide the true ownership of assets often arise in the context of divorce litigation, bankruptcy/insolvency where a creditor seeks to argue that a trust is a pretence seeking to shield assets from creditors, or in estate disputes, where beneficiaries look to bring assets of the deceased back into an estate.

It is National Fertility Awareness Week and, this year, the campaign is “Every Voice, Every Journey”.

Francophone couples living in England or those who own assets here may be surprised at the differences between a standard English prenuptial agreement and the ‘contrats de mariage’ which are so common across continental Europe.

Family relationships involving international couples can be complex and the need for cross-border planning and an understanding of other jurisdictions is critical for family lawyers working in London. Claire Wood helps clients to understand some of the differences in approach across the channel. 

Connie Atkinson was published in the October 2022 edition of ThoughtLeaders4 HNW Divorce magazine discussing the rise of cryptoassets in financial remedies.

The Court of Appeal recently handed down judgment in Helliwell v Entwistle [2025] EWCA Civ 1055, examining the importance of disclosure when entering into a pre-nuptial agreement.

On 30 July 2025, Mr Justice Peel handed down a judgment in the case of BC v BC [2025] EWHC 2016 (Fam), confirming the “sanctity of confidentiality” about Financial Dispute Resolution (‘FDR’) and private FDR (‘pFDR’) hearings.  

On 2 July 2025 the Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited judgment in the case of Standish v Standish. Practitioners have been particularly interested to see if, and how, the Court would develop the judicially created principles of ‘needs’, ‘compensation’, and ‘sharing’ which apply to the division of finances on divorce. In particular, what would the Court say in relation to ‘the sharing principle’: should all assets be shared, or only those generated by the parties’ common endeavour during their marriage?

In this blog we consider whether a pre-nuptial agreement is a good option to help protect the estates of vulnerable individuals in the event that their marriage should come to an end.

Whether you consider yourself neurodiverse, you are the loved one of someone who is neurodiverse or you want to support a neurodivergent individual in family proceedings, this blog provides a summary of the best practice which should be used by family lawyers to help neurodivergent individuals navigate the family legal system.

In honour of Pride Month, we are discussing (and celebrating) the diverse paths to parenthood within the LGBTQ+ community. For couples or individuals looking to start a family, there are a number of options available, each with important factors and implications to consider. This short blog touches on some of those considerations.

We are seeing that most HNW advisors regularly signpost clients to the importance of entering into a prenuptial agreement prior to marriage. From our perspective, prenuptial agreements have been rising in popularity, in particular following the 2010 Supreme Court judgment in Radmacher v Granantino, and rightly so.  These agreements offer a useful planning tool and can, when drafted appropriately, remove the uncertainty and conflict of contentious divorce proceedings.  Alongside the pre-wedding planning, it is important to recognise the need for legal agreements prior to the start of other relationships, or before an international relocation. A prime example of this, which we are seeing more frequently in our practice, is in relation to the French PACS status.

Kingsley Napley represented the applicant parents in the case of Mr and Mrs K v Mr and Mrs Z [2025] EWHC 927 (Fam). The High Court judgment offers importance guidance for those who are intending on entering into a surrogacy arrangement in the future. 

The English Channel, La Manche, is only 350 miles long, separating England from France.  When looking at divorce principles however, we have historically been oceans apart from France, with significant differences in outcome depending whether the proceedings have taken place in France or in England.  French law is based on a civil code, with divorce law applying property regimes to the division of assets, which is often incompatible with the common law, discretionary system in England.  In the early years of my Anglo-French practice, French couples living in England were often taken aback to learn that the property regime they chose when they signed their French marriage contract might not be applied by English judges if they divorced in England.