Should your relationship with your pet be Cur-tail-ed by separation? Our pets are important to us and they are often regarded as another member of the family. A question we are hearing more from many separating couples is: What happens to our pets when we split up?
[Read more…] about What happens to pets when you separate from your partner?
A landmark High Court judgment, Jennings v Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority 2022 EWHC 1619 Fam, ruled that a husband could lawfully use the embryo created using his sperm and the eggs of his late wife in treatment with a surrogate without the written consent of his late wife.
[Read more…] about If my partner dies, can I use our embryo in surrogacy treatment?
Holidays are here again…The start of the summer holidays marks great excitement for many children across Scotland this week. However, some of their parents may not feel the same way. Holiday time can be very stressful for parents and carers who can be juggling work and/or other commitments with providing care for their children. It can be particularly difficult for parents who are separated. When organising holidays these parents may be trying to accommodate not only their own schedules, those of their children and their former partners, but potentially also those of any new partners, their children and the new partners’ former partners! It can, therefore, all become very overwhelming.
Summer 2022 is expected to be a boom season for families travelling abroad after the pandemic and restrictions put paid to many holiday plans for two years running.
[Read more…] about Do I need a letter of consent to take my child abroad?
Although the concept of cryptocurrency may seem daunting and perhaps overly risky to some, there is no denying that interest in the cryptocurrency world is on the rise. With the increase in popularity of cryptocurrency in recent years, it has become a consideration for separating couples and a hot topic amongst Family Lawyers.
When a married couple (or those in a civil partnership) separate one of the first things that a family lawyer will try to ascertain is the “relevant date”. So, what is the relevant date and why is it so important?
[Read more…] about What is matrimonial property and why is the date of separation so important?
Cohabitants are defined by s.25 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 as “a man and a woman who are (or were) living together as if they were husband and wife or two persons of the same sex who are (or were) living together as if they were civil partners”. Further, in terms of s.25, when determining if someone is a cohabitant, the court will consider “the length of the period during which the parties have been living together (or lived together), the nature of their relationship during that period, and the nature and extent of any financial arrangements subsisting, or which subsisted, during that period.”
[Read more…] about Cohabitation – What are the legal implications?
Quantifying shareholding value can be challenging at the best of times but hypothesising a company’s value in a retrospective market can be even more taxing.
[Read more…] about Business Valuation in Divorce Settlements – Establishing Fair Shares
This time of year, during the festive period, can often be particularly difficult for parents who are separated. The prospect of not spending the whole of your child’s Christmas celebrations with them can be daunting and highly emotional. This can understandably lead to tension between you and your ex-partner. In order to minimise the acrimony your child is exposed to when they are moving between their parents, we have noted some useful guidance, which may be of assistance where cases involve direct handover, below:
Lottery winners occasionally appear in the news headlines with a photograph of the lucky winner usually posing with an oversized cheque, but it is not often lottery winnings are considered in the context of family law in Scotland. The recent case of J v J [2021] CSOH 67 came before Lady Wise in the Outer House of the Court of Session with one of the main issues being whether the assets and funds derived from lottery winnings were matrimonial property.
[Read more…] about Financial Claims on Divorce, Lottery Winnings and Dissipation of Assets
