Family Law
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Family Law
What Is a Family Law Barrister?
Family barristers cover various types of cases, including:
- Divorce, custody disputes and visitation rights;
- Adoption and surrogacy;
- Inheritance;
- Abduction;
- Financial disputes (where these concern child support or child maintenance);
- Domestic violence and abuse;
- and pre-nuptial agreements.
This is not an exhaustive list but rather an indication of the broad and varied work undertaken by family law barristers. There is often a focus on mediation and arbitration to minimise family matters being made public in a courtroom when discussion and dispute resolution should suffice. This is particularly important in matters of a sensitive nature.
Do I Need a Family Law Barrister?
There are various areas of family law, most of which are intricate and complex. To understand your rights and best protect the interests of yourself and your family, it is highly advised to seek the support of a family barrister. A member of the family law barrister team at St Pauls can help you navigate family law in a sensitive, cost-effective and efficient manner.
Family Law Barristers at St Pauls Chambers
The Leeds family law barristers team at St Pauls Chambers are recognised legal experts specialising in all forms of financial and children-related matters. Members of St Pauls have successfully and consistently represented individuals, local authorities and guardians in numerous high profile child care and high net worth financial remedy cases.
St Pauls Chambers are repeatedly ranked as a ‘leading set’ by the definitive independent guide to the UK profession (Chambers and Partners). Many of our barristers also feature year on year in the highly esteemed The The Legal 500 directory.
At St Pauls Chambers, our Family Law Barristers in Leeds regularly advise on pre- and post-proceedings and appear in:
- highly complex and high net worth financial remedy cases;
- high profile child care cases involving multiple medical experts and the gravest of allegations;
- financial injunctions of the utmost urgency;
- highly technical ToLATA and proprietary estoppel case;
- and intractably entrenched private children matters.
Family Law Areas
A feature of the Family Department is that, within its broad base, there are a considerable number of individuals who are specialists in niche family law areas. These include:
- trusts;
- court of protection;
- inheritance act claims;
- schedule 1 claims;
- surrogacy;
- pre- and post-nuptial agreements;
- multi-jurisdictional cases;
- and abduction.
A number of members of our family law barrister chambers have extensive experience conducting sexual cases, both in the family court and the crown court. Such cases, and especially trials, require meticulous preparation, commitment and attention to detail. Our barristers are well versed in managing document-heavy and multiple expert cases.
Members of our family law barrister chambers possess family law expertise that extends to all types of family-related matters. As such, many members also have cross expertise in civil and/or criminal proceedings.
Our family barrister team are well-versed in financial disputes, arbitration and collaborative law, too. Please see below for more information.
Contact Our Family Barrister Team
Those wishing to instruct counsel are encouraged to contact our clerking team, who will be happy to assist and offer advice; further information is of course also available on our individual counsel profiles, copies of which can be downloaded for your convenience.
Financial Disputes in Family Law
A family barrister at St Pauls has extensive experience acting for both men and women following the breakdown of a marriage or relationship. Our family law team regularly deals with cases in both the County and High Courts involving:
- disputed property ownership;
- injunctions;
- jurisdiction issues;
- trusts;
- valuation of private companies;
- and pensions.
St Pauls handle cases with values ranging from modest amounts to many millions.
- Ancillary Relief: Not all cases are suitable for mediation or the collaborative process. If a case is to go to trial, it is important to ensure that you have the best family barrister to advise on tactics, evidence, litigation risks and to represent your case at the final hearing.
- Private Dispute Resolution: Since April 2010, couples have been able to instruct a specialist barrister directly to advise them jointly. While the advice cannot bind either party and the barrister could not go on to represent either individual, both parties have the advantage of an early and neutral opinion from a specialist with years of experience of the outcomes achievable through the court process.
- Pre-nuptial Agreements: Members of the Family Team have a sound commercial understanding of the practical issues arising out of pre-nuptial agreements. Our Barristers combine a pragmatic approach with a sound and thorough understanding of this fast-moving area of family law.
- Inheritance Act: Our family law barristers act and advise in cases on behalf of spouses, former spouses, civil partners, cohabitants and children (including adult children and other dependants).
- Trusts: We have expert family lawyers at all levels who have the expertise to deal with relatively straightforward cases involving discretionary trusts, as well as more complex corporate arrangements where it is necessary to seek orders to extract assets from trust structures.
Family Law Arbitration
Arbitration is a form of dispute resolution. The parties enter into an agreement under which they appoint a suitably qualified person (an “arbitrator”) to adjudicate a dispute and make an award. The scheme covers:
- financial disputes arising from divorce;
- claims on inheritance from a child, spouse, etc.;
- financial claims made in England and Wales after a divorce abroad;
- claims for child maintenance between unmarried parents;
- disputes about ownership of a property between cohabiting couples;
- and civil partnership financial claims.
Disputes will be resolved exclusively by applying the laws of this country, in the same way as the Family Courts. For more information on the difference between arbitration and mediation, please see our blog post.
Collaborative Law
Collaborative law differs from mediation because each person appoints their own specialist lawyer. The parties and their lawyers commit to a “participation agreement” and work together in face to face four-way meetings to achieve a settlement of the case. Within that process, the lawyers and the separating couple commit to working as a team. A specialist family barrister at St Pauls is able to assist that team.
Please contact us today if you are looking for a family law barrister to represent you.
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The Latest Family Law News and Cases
Follow our blog for further information on the latest Family Law news and cases.
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