Separation

Cohabiting couples make up a huge proportion of families nowadays and long gone are the days when couples would live separately until they got married. However, the law relating to unmarried couples is still extremely complex so seeking specialist legal advice about your rights is essential. We can provide all the advice you need to sort out matters upon separation, including:

• Reviewing any cohabitation agreement that is in place and taking enforcement action if necessary
• Advising on the division of jointly owned assets, including providing advice on splitting joint bank accounts and the family home according to any Declaration of Trust and your contributions over the years
• Advising on other issues relating to the family home, such as ending a tenancy agreement or negotiating rent payments
• Claims under the Trust of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA) to ask the court to decide who owns what share of any property and whether the property should be sold to release your share

• Advising on parental responsibility and taking steps to acquire it wherever necessary
• Sorting out a voluntary Parenting Plan to decide matters like where your children will live and how much time they should spend with each parent
• Agreeing child maintenance payments or applying to the Child Maintenance Service
• ‘Schedule 1’ applications to court for financial provision for your children, such as transferring property between the parents to provide the children a home
• Applying for Child Arrangements Orders, Specific Issue Orders and Prohibited Steps Orders for decisions about your children’s future living arrangements and upbringing

At Symes Bains Broomer, we are proud to have served individuals and families across Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire for many years. Our dedicated team of family lawyers combine expert legal knowledge with a friendly, approachable service.

We are members of the Law Society Family Law Accreditation for our high standards of client care and expert knowledge in this area. We are also members of Family Law Advanced which specifically recognises law firms that specialise in complex family law matters, such as those involving intricate and high value finances. Among our talented lawyers, Joanne Harriman is an accredited Family Law Advanced specialist.

Joanne and Yasmin Akhtar are members of Resolution, a network of legal professionals who specialise in helping families find constructive, non-combative resolutions to family law issues and avoiding court proceedings wherever possible.