Cohabiting couples often assume that living together creates similar rights and responsibilities as marriage. This is often known as a “common law marriage”.  The concept of a common law marriage has no legal validity and in reality moving in with a partner does not give an individual automatic rights to each other’s property, no matter how long a couple has lived together.

Social media now plays a large role in most people’s day-to-day lives, with the average person spending over two hours each day on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Whilst these social networks are a brilliant way to stay in touch, people should always be mindful of what personal information they are sharing, particularly when going through children or matrimonial financial proceedings.

Something which is being reported more and more frequently in the media are high value divorce cases in which one party seeks to argue a “stellar contribution”.

A couple planning to enter a marriage or civil partnership may decide to enter into a written agreement reflecting what they intend to happen to their money and property if the marriage or civil partnership were to end.

If you are a parent and in the process of separation then you will need to think carefully about the arrangements for each of you to spend time with your children following the separation.

People planning to enter a marriage or civil partnership sometimes decide to enter into a Pre-Nuptial Agreement (‘pre-nup’) that states what they intend to happen to their money and property if the marriage or civil partnership were to end.

The start of the New Year is traditionally the busiest time for divorce with couples deciding the New Year is a good time to split up and make a fresh start.