Articles by ‘Simon Bassett’

Proposals to nearly double the fees for filing a divorce have been dropped by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), following criticism from a number of family law specialists and member of the judiciary.

According to research by Resolution, more than one in four (28%) adults say they’ve fallen into debt as a direct result of a break-up. While one in six (16%) admit to asking a friend for short-term financial help. Only a handful of solicitors now offer legal aid for divorces and due to the strict criteria for legal aid, most people are not entitled to it anyway.

A new study has revealed that a significant number of women do not consider that pensions may be of relevance of pensions upon divorce and according to new research from Scottish Widows, women may put themselves at risk of serious financial hardship later in life. It is for this reason that appropriate legal advice really should be sought on such issues.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that those with more money are far more likely to get married.

New powers are to be introduced to allow the Child Maintenance Service and Child Support Agency (CSA) to begin sharing information about an individual’s payment record with credit agencies.  This will mean that, for the first time, a failure to pay child maintenance will have a direct impact on credit scores, impeding an individual’s ability to access such things as loans and mortgages.

Nicky Morgan has announced that she now supports gay marriage, despite being one of 161 MPs to oppose same-sex marriage legislation in May 2013.  She conceded that she had changed her mind on her position and now ‘probably would’ vote in favour of the legislation if a vote was held today, stating that she supports ‘anybody who enters into a commitment’.

The number of people divorcing aged 60 or over in the UK is increasing, according to a new report by the International Longevity Centre – UK (ILC-UK).

Proposals to nearly double the fees for filling a divorce have been dropped by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), following criticism from a number of family law specialists and members of the judiciary.

Solicitors are receiving an increasing number of requests from women who want to draw up pre-nuptial agreements, new research suggests.

A former banker embroiled in a bitter divorce case has been cleared of allegations that he sunk funds into a tiger conservation charity for his own personal benefit.

The President of the Family Court has said that the law must be changed to finally recognise the rights of cohabiting couples.

The family justice system is currently undergoing a series of reforms to turn around its image of secrecy and unaccountability and become transparent. But will the changes to the system be enough? Anne Davies from our Family team discusses.