Blog
Keeping the peace at Christmas – top tips for shared parenting over the festive season
Lauren Evans
13 October 2016
Parenting and separation – the challenges of parental alienation and what to do about it
In the world of family law, there is some debate over whether parental alienation is a concept which the Courts will recognise (relying instead on a concept of “implacable hostility”) and strive to address. When explaining this to clients, they express a range of entirely understandable emotions – shock, anger, frustration, resignation – because of course it exists!
13 October 2016
The Children Act 25 years on - and why the laws on cohabiting couples need reform
This week sees the 25th anniversary of the implementation of the Children Act 1989, arguably the most important piece of family legislation we have seen in the last 100 years. It profoundly changed the law affecting children. Tucked away, at Schedule 1 to the Act, was an equally important change, setting out unmarried parents’ rights to financial provision for their children from their former partner.
23 September 2016
Mediating megastars – keeping it private and solution focused
News of megastars Brad Pitt’s and Angelina Jolie’s divorce has dominated newspapers and social media worldwide this week and is a timely reminder of how people in the public eye have to deal with intense media interest in the difficulties they face in their private lives.
One of the best ways to ensure that the terms of any divorce, whether high profile or not, are kept out of the press is to conduct proceedings in an entirely private forum such as mediation, using a private judge or arbitration. As practising mediators, we assist clients in resolving issues outside of court and regularly advise them about the benefits of mediation.
19 September 2016
Divorce in England and the UAE – the uncertainty of two discretionary divorce jurisdictions
In the year that coercive and controlling behaviour became a new basis for criminal prosecutions in England and Wales, it was interesting to read the recent blog by Hassan Elhais “Can I divorce my husband because he beat me?”, in which he reports that a criminal conviction that constitutes harm can be used as a ground for divorce in the UAE.
14 September 2016
Divorce and summertime blues in the UAE
The idea that spending time with family at Christmas triggers marriage breakdown has always been overshadowed by the tensions for many of the long summer holidays. In the UAE, the summer has been very long indeed this year, starting with Ramadan in early June followed by the annual “migration” during the hottest summer months and now the holidays associated with Eid. Coupled with the economic pressures and uncertainties that have marched in time with the fall in oil prices, many ex-patriot families are thinking of heading home for good and some about divorce.
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