No-fault divorce in the UK
Currently, a person wishing to divorce their spouse or dissolve their civil partnership must prove that their marriage or civil partnership has irretrievably broken down. However, in order to demonstrate irretrievable breakdown, they must rely on one of five facts. Three of these facts are conduct-related and therefore inherently fault-based (unreasonable behaviour, adultery and desertion). The […]
Islamic Marriage and Divorce in the UK
Is Nikah recognised in the UK? The simple answer is NO. An Islamic marriage is not recognised by the UK courts. If a couple only completes the Nikah, the Sharia marriage ceremony when marrying in the UK will not be recognised by English law. Even if a couple have been together for many years, if […]
Child contact in Family / Immigration Law contexts
Article by Keerum Akhtar, LL.B ( Hons) Solicitor / Office Manager 12th May 2017 As a practitioner who deals with both family and immigration law, one of the most perplexing areas that the cross over between two areas of law brings is that of child contact, where one parent does not have a valid visa […]
Divorce after Christmas
Written by Musarrat Azmi Senior Solicitor and Head of Family Department at Fountain Solicitors Divorce- the dreaded D word. It can be the end of a long and painful marriage or a short and regretted one. Either way, the procedure is the same and it is usually better to have proper and early legal advice […]
Ex-wife of billionaire wins right to make claim
Christina Estrada, the ex-wife of Shiekh Walid Juffali, has won the right to make a claim on her ex-husband’s estimated £4 billion fortune after taking her case the the UK Court of Appeal. Ms Estrada and Sheikh Juffali married in 2001 and split in 2012. Ms Estrada attempted to claim financial relief from her ex-husband […]
Don’t Suffer Violence and Threats in Silence
Article published by Ayeisha Khandia, Head of Family Law at Fountain Solicitors on 09.12.2015 The definition of domestic abuse is very wide. It does not just cover actual violence such as slapping, punching and kicking but also includes threats, intimidation, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and even financial abuse. Protection against domestic abuse is one of […]
Latest divorce figures show fall of nearly 3% on previous year
Third of marriages in 1968 ended in divorce by 2013 Latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics, for the year 2013, show: There were 114,720 divorces in England and Wales in 2013, a decrease of 2.9% since 2012, when there were 118,140 divorces. In 2013, there were 9.8 men divorcing per thousand married males […]
Northern Irish same-sex couple go to court over marriage ban
A Northern Irish couple has initiated a challenge to lift the ban on same-sex marriages in Northern Ireland on the grounds of unlawful discrimination. The couple married in London in 2014; however, upon returning to Northern Ireland their marriage was not recognised as legal. In response the couple has filed now a case with at […]
Needs of children more important than nuptial agreements
High Court refuses to leave heiress in ‘relative luxury’ and husband in ‘relative penury’ A High Court judge has set aside a prenup and two post-nuptial agreements made by a wealthy heiress and her husband, to protect the “reasonable requirements” of their three children. The Law Commission outlined plans for binding ‘nuptial agreements’ last week, but they would only […]
Civil partnership registrations fall by 70% in a year
Decline follows the introduction of same-sex marriage Following the introduction of marriages of same sex couples in March 2014, the number of civil partnerships formed in England and Wales has fallen by 70% from 5,646 in 2013 to 1,683 in 2014. The decline in civil partnerships was disclosed in the latest figures produced by the […]