Family

Articles

Do the right thing

Second marriages and step-children can cause estate-planning dilemmas, so how can you convince your client not to let their heart rule their head, asks Fay Copeland

Therapy, not mediation, can help warring couples

Instead of blindly pushing divorcing couples towards mediation, the government should consider making more resources available for counselling, says Marilyn Stowe

Courts must approve family arbitration awards except in 'rarest of cases'

President of family division calls for streamlined process to be introduced

Terms are the same however we sugar coat them

Solicitors and law practitioners learn through experience what trigger words to avoid, or at least to be careful with, when dealing with anxious and sometimes volatile clients.

Breaking up is hard to do

When couples are divorcing and splitting their complex pensions, solicitors and financial advisers should be getting together, says Steve Rees

Children law update

How 'extreme' must the circumstances be to justify adoption rather than long-term ?foster care, asks Noel Arnold as he reviews the Supreme Court's ruling in Re B and subsequent cases

The multiple benefits of arbitration outweigh by far the additional costs

Hiring an arbitrator to deal with family disputes is a strategic 'move which puts the client first, says Tony Roe

Family courts 'are not a talking shop', Ryder LJ says

He gives guidance on 'more inquisitorial process' for litigants in person