Expert Family Law Services In Leicester

At Smith Partnership, our team of experienced Family Law solicitors in Leicester is here to support you through any family-related issue you may be facing. Whether you're navigating a divorce, resolving financial matters following a separation, making child custody arrangements, or creating a pre- or post-nuptial agreement, we provide compassionate and expert legal advice tailored to your needs. 

With a deep understanding of the emotional and practical complexities involved, our dedicated team ensures you receive the guidance and support necessary to move forward with confidence.

How We Help You

Divorce and Separation

Our expert team provides comprehensive legal support for divorce proceedings, judicial separation, and the dissolution of civil partnerships. We guide you through the complexities of the legal process, helping to ensure a smooth and amicable resolution where possible. Whether you are seeking to end a marriage or partnership, we work to protect your interests and help you achieve a fair outcome in all matters relating to your separation.

Children

We offer expert advice on all issues relating to children, including securing 'Live with Orders' (previously known as residence orders) and 'Spend Time with Orders' (formerly contact orders). Our solicitors also assist with obtaining 'Specific Issue Orders' and 'Prohibited Steps Orders' to address particular concerns, such as decisions about education, medical treatment, or relocation. We understand the importance of protecting your child's welfare and work tirelessly to secure arrangements that are in their best interest.

Financial Settlements

Following a marital breakdown, we provide expert guidance on the full range of financial issues, including the division of assets, maintenance, pensions, and more. Our team works to ensure that you achieve a fair and equitable financial settlement, considering both your immediate needs and long-term security. We aim to minimise conflict and ensure that all financial matters are resolved efficiently and fairly.

Pre-nuptial and Post-nuptial Agreements

We offer expert advice and assistance in drafting pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements to help protect your assets and clarify financial arrangements before or during marriage. These agreements provide clarity and security, setting out how assets and finances will be managed in the event of a separation or divorce, and helping to prevent future disputes.

Unmarried Couples

For cohabitees facing separation, we provide clear and practical advice on the legal aspects of their situation, including proceedings under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act (TOLATA). We help unmarried couples navigate the complexities of property disputes and financial matters, ensuring that their rights are protected and that a fair resolution is achieved. Whether it’s dividing property, resolving financial claims, or determining rights to assets, we offer expert legal guidance tailored to your specific circumstances.

Meet Our Family Law Leicester Team

Why Choose Smith Partnership?

At Smith Partnership, our Family Law team is dedicated to delivering the highest standard of legal support, with a focus on resolving matters efficiently and professionally. We are honoured to hold accreditation with Resolution, which reflects our commitment to promoting amicable and non-confrontational resolutions in family disputes. 

Furthermore, our team is accredited by Wise Law, underscoring our expertise in handling complex family law issues with the utmost care and professionalism. These prestigious accreditations ensure that clients receive exceptional legal representation throughout their family law matters.

Contact our team today

  1. To find out how our expert team of law solicitors can help you, contact us today on 0330 123 1229, send us an email via info@smithpartnership.co.uk or complete our contact form.

A highly respected Solicitor with a wealth of experience.  Very approachable and clearly explains the law and procedure which helps put her clients at ease.

- Client, Family

Adele is an extremely capable and competent family practitioner.  She can be relied on to get the job done and always manages to appear calm and cheerful when under pressure.  Without doubt she is a safe pair of hands and a pleasure to work with.

- Client, Family

FAQs

The matrimonial home/family home is often referred to as the home in which the parties and their family lived. Where people are married it is often referred to as the matrimonial home, where they have been in a cohabiting relationship it is often referred to as the family home. Both parties can have rights over this property irrespective of whose name it is in, irrespective of who has paid the bills. Please note that the rights of a married couple on separation may well be very different to the rights of a cohabiting couple on separation. Again, it is important that legal advice is taken to advise on those rights and that in certain circumstances where the property is in one party’s sole name, that advice is taken to protect the non-owning party’s interest in the property.

Bringing an end to a civil partnership involves slightly different terminology than bringing an end to a marriage. You can apply to dissolve (end) your civil partnership provided you have been in the registered civil partnership for at least one year. The process is fairly similar to divorce in that you send paperwork to the court to ask for permission to end your civil partnership. You do not normally need to attend the court if you are just dealing with the paperwork application for dissolution. The grounds for ending a civil partnership are that the relationship has irretrievably broken down and this is proved in one of four ways:

  1. Unreasonable behaviour
  2. Desertion
  3. Separation for more than two years with consent
  4. Living apart for more than five years

Spousal maintenance is where one party to a marriage pays maintenance (financial support) to the other. Please note that spousal maintenance is only available to parties to a marriage/civil partnership, the court has no power to order former cohabitees to pay spousal maintenance to the other. Spousal maintenance can be paid for a fixed period of time to enable one party to adjust, to get back into the job market etc., or can be paid long term, possibly on a joint lives basis.

Grandparents do not have any automatic right to see their grandchildren. Sadly, when a relationship breaks down one or both sets of grandparents can be pushed out and lose contact with their grandchildren. The family courts however do recognise the invaluable role that grandparents can play in their grandchildren’s lives, especially at a time when their grandchildren are going through a difficult time in terms of the parental separation. Therefore, if a grandparent makes an application to the family court, they may stand a good chance of success in obtaining a child arrangements order that the grandchildren should spend time with them.

Grandparents do not have an automatic right to make an application for a child arrangements order, they will have to apply for permission (leave) and if they make an application the court will consider, amongst other things, their connection with the child and whether the application is in the child’s best interest.

This will depend on the circumstances of your case. Generally speaking, the court does like to try and achieve a clean break i.e. a dismissal of both parties’ claims including for maintenance when a marriage breaks down, however this is not always possible. If for example one party has put their career on hold and brought up the children/run the home, whilst the other party has been able to develop their career and is now earning a high salary, then the stay at home party may well be entitled to spousal maintenance. Unlike child maintenance, there is no formula, the main test is does one party need any money and if so does the other party have the resources i.e. disposable income to pay. If they do not have the resources, then, even if one party needs the money maintenance may not be paid. The court has a variety of powers open to them including giving maintenance for a fixed period of time, or possible joint lives orders. The court can also give nominal maintenance orders which mean that there is no absolute clean break and the party, normally the parent with care of young children, has the ability to apply to the court in the future for maintenance should their circumstances change.

Often the answer to this is yes. Pensions are normally included as assets in divorce financial settlements, and they are often the biggest asset in terms of value. It is important that you get a good understanding of your pension entitlement and the impact of any divorce settlement upon your pension benefits. There is no automatic principle of division, it may depend on how long you have been together compared to how long you have been in the pension scheme. It may depend on whether or not one of you has been out of the working environment bringing up a family and therefore not able to contribute to their own pension. The way the matrimonial pot, including pensions, is divided between you and your partner would be decided either by agreement between the two of you or by the courts and would be based on factors such as the financial needs of each party as well as the length of the marriage.

There are a variety of ways that pensions can be dealt with, a common way is pension sharing whereby pension funds are divided so that both parties have a separate fund in their respective names. Sometimes there is pension offsetting which can involve one party transferring a proportionally larger share of their liquid assets to one party in return for their pension being left alone. Pensions are a highly complex area of law and frequently advice from actuaries must be taken.

You may want to speak to your solicitor in advance about the information they would like you to bring in, it may be that they have a form they require to you complete. Generally speaking, it is a good idea to have evidence of your identity upon you so your solicitor can verify who you are. You may also want to prepare a short summary, often just one page of A4 is sufficient, giving everyone’s full name, date of births, addresses, contact details and a general paragraph on the background to the situation.

You also need to have made enquiries with a solicitor in advance about how they expect to be paid for their services and to make sure that you have the methods of payment with you.