[Solved] Good Family Law Solicitor in Middlesbrough ?

Hi there

I don't know a great deal about divorce and its ramifications. As far as contact with your children, I think this can be arranged as part of the settlement but if that doesn't happen you would need to attend mediation as its the first step before court and is now compulsory. There are lots of stickys at the top of the legal eagle section about this. There has been some family law reforms that have come into effect recently and contact/residence orders are now called Child Arrangement Orders. Here's a link to explain what the process is in more depth

www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/family-justice-reform/pd-12b-cap.pdf

Here's a link to a divorce website, they have a free helpline and should be able to advise you more about the process.

www.wikivorce.com/divorce/

Hi There,

I do have some experience of divorce and can share my thoughts though I'm not a legal expert.

when it comes to finances the end settlement will be dependant on the agreement between the 2 of you, if you can't reach an agreement then you can go through court, though I would recommend trying as hard as you can to stay away from court when it comes to the divorce if you can as the cost of this process is horrendous.

As NJ has said I would try mediation first and see if you can reach a better agreement of the assets this way, I would say 25% isn't a fair split however most divorce lawyers would come out with this figure as it is best case and from memory the minimum a court would allow to order the no resident parent on separation. The court can order an amount but they have to stay within a fair amount, I remember when I separated from my ex, she offered very low amount (around 10% I think) and she was advised by the mediator that a judge wouldn't accept such a low amount as it has to be fair, even if it is a private agreement the judge could over rule the amount as not fair (if you can decide on a divorce settlement privately it still goes before a judge to be signed off without an actual court case)

If you do attend mediation, just ensure the service you use has means to write the agreement into a legally binding agreement as mediation isn't and can be changed at any time without warning, if they don't have a solicitor on hand ready to have it written into an order.

For the most part of your divorce and sorting contact you can manage without legal expense but there will be times when you will need that extra bit of advice like your pension ect.

You can also discuss your level of contact with your children at mediation and try and extend this, there is no normal when it comes to contact as every case is different but if there were it does seem that every other weekend is widely accepted as a good level of contact with overnight stays.

Hope this helps for now, but it has probably prompted lots of questions so again ask away Lol

GTTS

Watson Woodhouse in case you havent found one

I would say that she is bluffing and that you could get more - she works part time now so she will be expected to continue this so she isn't totally reliant on you for spousal support. However, you do need legal advice - I'd get an initial consultation with a solicitor for clarification.