Monday January 30, 2012 at 9:00am
There is no doubt that we are in difficult times. When established high street and brand names like Kodak and Peacocks are hit by the economic crisis, you know “times are hard”. Consumers are cutting back, making economies. Almost daily on the news there are reports of like for like sales being down. By all accounts, trading over Christmas was not great, with a few exceptions like Primark – which is unashamedly a budget brand.
It’s no surprise t....
Thursday January 26, 2012 at 9:00am
More than almost any other word I can think of, divorce comes with a lot of baggage. And there is no pun intended there! Say the word and people immediately think of 1,000 different things connected with it, from conflict and upset, to kids, cost and quickies.
The reality of course is that a divorce is simply the legal ending of a marriage. To get a divorce, you must have been married for more than one year. There are then certain steps which need to be gone thr....
Monday January 23, 2012 at 9:00am
There’s no escaping social media these days – as you’ll know if you are reading this blog! Whether it is Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, myspace, You Tube or any number of other sites and services, it has never been easier to engage with others.
From a personal point of view, this is great for helping keep in touch with people you rarely see, keeping others posted on what you are up to, sharing good news and swapping stories. As a business tool, social sites lik....
Thursday January 19, 2012 at 9:00am
It has taken family law a long time to ensure that children are put at the heart of any contact and residence issues. What is best for them is the starting point and I firmly believe that is how it should be.
Most of the time, this will involve them having contact with both parents, with both sides of the equation having a tangible impact on their offspring’s upbringing. And in most instances, this will be agreed between the parents, enshrined by the court and off everyone will go. H....
Wednesday January 18, 2012 at 9:00am
Having mentioned the apparent annual rush for the
divorce lawyers that we see in January each year a couple of times already in the last few weeks, I have been thinking more on this topic. The driver for this is the desire for us to do away with this unwanted tradition and for people to take a deep breath and consider the state of their marriage in the cold light of mid-January rather than on the last day of a two-week stay by the mother-in-law over new year. However, it was the question of ....
Monday January 16, 2012 at 9:00am
So what will be new in family law for 2012? What trend will be “in” for the year? It’s difficult to know really. After so much happened, comparatively speaking, in 2011, it is difficult to see there being any additional big moves for 2012. It is more likely to be a year of consolidation, as the management speak goes.
In 2011, we had the long-awaited Family Justice Review which arrived with an apologetic whimper, introducing the Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings ....
Thursday January 12, 2012 at 9:00am
If you’re anything like me, then the world of investments and pensions is something alien. I am ill equipped to make more than the most superficial foray into their machinations and so rely on the experts to advise me on the right moves to make, where we are at and where we are likely to end up.
This attitude could explain why, when considering a
divorce settlement, many people still don’t think of the pension pot as an asset to be divided. They are either aware it is there but....
Monday January 9, 2012 at 9:00am
Sir Paul Coleridge is something of a breath of fresh air. The senior High Court judge has again spoken out in defence of the family and about the importance of trying to keep marriages together. He is advocating a change from the “recycling attitude” to marriage, where people ditch their partners for a new one whenever they feel like it rather than trying to make it work, to help cut the numbers of children caught up in the family justice system.
He believes marriage is better th....
Thursday January 5, 2012 at 9:00am
I know Christmas is well behind us now and most of us are bravely facing the new year head on while trying not to think back on the cosy, quiet days of doing very little in December. However, there is an interesting poll I have only just picked up on that relates to Christmas but perhaps gives us some useful pointers for the year ahead that I wanted to share with you.
A poll carried out for holiday camp company Butlins revealed that nearly half of children would rather Santa brought them more ....
Tuesday January 3, 2012 at 9:00am
What is a proper family? Traditionally, the definition appears to have been married heterosexual parents with two or more children. I am not sure I would necessarily agree that is exactly right, but it will do for now. But where does that sit in 21st Century society?
A new survey suggests fewer than a fifth of people believe they belong to a traditional family, with many believing their home circumstances are not represented by politicians or the media, while 77% believe single parents....