Articles by ‘Richard Ellis’

A recent case where a farmer had not made a Will had enormous repercussions for his family trying to protect his legacy many years after his death. Sharon MacDonald discusses the importance of Wills and pre-nuptial agreements especially in the agricultural community.

A family solicitor from Withy King has made it into The Lawyer’s Hot 100 list for 2015 – and is the only associate in the UK to have done so. Rebecca Stevens, who works…

Rebecca Stevens, a family solicitor at Withy King, has worked, for the last nine months, on a pro bono basis on behalf of a father with learning disabilities who, together with his wife, is…

A recent decision in SK v TK [2013] EWHC 384 has confirmed the view that the courts will seek to ensure that assets are divided equally unless there are truly exceptional circumstances.

How valid is a financial consent order if one party lacked mental capacity at the time it was signed?

A family solicitor from Withy King has been praised by a senior judge for providing over 100 hours of free legal support to a father with learning disabilities who is battling to try and…

The press recently reported research indicating that only 28% of men felt that counselling would be helpful in saving a marriage which had got into difficulty in contrast to 45% of women. This was from a survey of some 2,000 people. So can counselling really help?

This month High Court Judge, Sir Nicholas Mostyn, has called for the abolition of the legal rights and responsibilities of marriage. Sharon MacDonald, Partner in our Family team queries whether or not that is realistic.

This August, the Home Secretary, Theresa May began consultations as to whether to introduce a new criminal offence of Domestic Abuse. Currently the definition of domestic abuse has been ambiguous, leaving the police unsure if they have the power to intervene in reported incidents meaning many suffering abuse don’t get the help they need.

A case before the High Court recently confirmed that a couple’s desperation to conceive a baby led them into the arms of unscrupulous fraudsters and caused them to be suspected of child trafficking.

Harming an unborn child by drinking alcohol during pregnancy could soon be classified as a crime if an unusual legal challenge succeeds.

A local council is planning to go to the Court of Appeal in an attempt to secure Criminal Injuries Compensation* for a six-year-old girl who was born with ‘Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder’ as a result of her mother drinking while pregnant.

A leading article in The Times this week reported that the Law Commission will recommend that prenup agreements should become binding and legally enforceable in the UK.