Blog
Kingsley Napley’s Medical Negligence Team ‘walks together’ with the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity
Sharon Burkill
It is all too easy to become self-involved and entirely consumed by the breakdown of a relationship. Separating from spouses or partners turns most people’s worlds upside down. Uncertainty and insecurity reigns. The grief that comes with a relationship breakdown is often suppressed and buried beneath a survival instinct to get through the day.
The government recently released proposals for the conversion of civil partnerships to same-sex marriages, which have been available in England and Wales since Saturday 29 March 2014. The plans mean that, from December this year, civil partners will be able to attend a register office to be issued with a “certificate of conversion” free of charge (although after 12 months it is proposed there will be a fee of £45).
My immigration colleague, Katie Newbury and I attended the Association of Lawyers for Children Conference last week, “Modern Families in Modern Britain: Is law keeping pace with medical and research advances?”
Our clients frequently come to us with the understanding that where they marry is relevant to where they will get divorced. They assume there is a connection to that place and that there is no choice therefore as to where they might get divorced. These assumptions are wrong and an already complex picture is even more confusing for international couples when it comes to pre-nuptial agreements.
As the number of children born in the UK to foreign parents is soaring, with 1 in 3 nationally and 7 in 10 in London being born to at least one foreign parent, it is no surprise that difficulties increasingly arise when family relationships break down.
Divorcing couples involving foreign nationals are frequently faced with making important decisions about which country to divorce in, the financial support being sought and arrangements for the care of the children. In some cases, the UK immigration status of one party and the child(ren) may also be affected by the separation.
Sharon Burkill
Natalie Cohen
Caroline Sheldon
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