Family Law

Seeking legal intervention for family matters isn’t always easy, particularly where these matters involve conflict. Our expert family law solicitors fully appreciate this, which is why we take a compassionate and sensitive approach. Our team always do our best to ensure that you feel well-informed and at ease throughout the necessary processes.

At Dutton Gregory Solicitors, we favour a non-confrontational and compassionate approach to family law, several members of our team are collaboratively trained lawyers, and others are members of Resolution. When you work with us, you can feel confident that you’ll receive expert advice that’s tailored to your unique case.

We also have award winning and nationally recognised and accredited solicitors. This includes solicitors who hold the Law Society’s Child Law, Family Law and Advanced Family Law Accreditations. These accreditations are a recognition of the high level of expertise and knowledge in family law that we offer.

Our specialist team can provide family legal advice and support across a wide range of areas, these include:

• Divorce
• Separation
• Civil partnership dissolution
• Cohabitation agreements
• Financial settlements
• Child residence and contact
• Domestic abuse
• Family mediation

Get in touch with our family law solicitors in Dorset, Hampshire and Surrey

Our family law solicitors can advise clients nationally and worldwide from our offices in Bournemouth, Chandler’s Ford, Poole, Winchester and Woking.

To arrange an initial consultation, you can contact your nearest office using the links above or fill in our quick enquiry form and we will get back to you soon.

Our family lawyers’ expertise

Divorce

If you would like to legally end your marriage, our specialist divorce solicitors can offer assistance throughout each stage of the divorce process, including:

• Completing a divorce application, as an individual, or a joint application with your divorcing spouse
• Assistance to apply for a Conditional Order (on approval of your divorce application and after a 20-week wait period)
• Working with a solicitor to reach a financial settlement with your divorcing spouse
• Arranging child residency and contact matters if applicable
• Applying for a Final Order to legally end your marriage (after receiving your Conditional Order and an additional waiting period of 6 weeks)

Separation

Where couples wish to separate without officially ending their marriage, for whatever reason, our solicitors can offer support to obtain a legal separation. Our family lawyers can help couples to draft a separation agreement detailing how matters will be handled, for instance, how assets will be divided, if spousal support will be paid and where any children will live.

At Dutton Gregory, we have supported couples in a wide variety of circumstances with legal separations. For more information, please get in touch with our solicitors in Hampshire.

Civil partnership dissolution

Where a couple has been in a civil partnership for at least one year and they wish to end their partnership, they have the right to apply for a civil partnership dissolution.

In England and Wales, those in a civil partnership can make an application on a ‘no-fault’ basis, essentially following the same procedure as divorcing couples. If you would like to dissolve your partnership, the application process is best completed with the support of an expert lawyer.

Our family law solicitors can assist here, as well as support involved parties to make arrangements for their finances and for any children.

Cohabitation agreements

When couples live together, especially for longer periods of time, it’s not unusual for their finances to become interlinked. It’s important to be aware that unmarried couples do not have the same legal rights as married people. This absence of rights can often cause financial or children related disputes when unmarried couples separate.

A cohabitation agreement is a legal document that can help unmarried couples to protect their legal rights when living together and avoid disputes later on. These documents are used to agree on arrangements for children, property and finances, while a couple is cohabiting. The agreement should determine what happens to their affairs if they split up, pass away or become seriously ill. This can include how the equity and contents of the family home are held.

At Dutton Gregory, we can assist you in creating a cohabitation agreement to suit your needs and ensure that the document is legally binding.

Financial settlements

When going through a divorce, it’s necessary to separate your ex-spouse’s finances from your own. To do so, you’ll need to reach a financial settlement, which is a type of agreement that sets out how finances will be split between spouses when they get divorced. Such settlements deal with property, debts, savings and other assets.

Our expert divorce solicitors at Dutton Gregory can support the majority of divorcing couples to reach a voluntary financial settlement with no need to go to Court. If the circumstances call for Court proceedings, our team can assist here also, including around completing a Form E for financial disclosure.

When assisting with financial settlements, our family lawyers can help couples to obtain an order for spousal or child maintenance or a clean break order. The latter ends the financial links between the spouses and prevents both from raising any financial claims against one another in the future.

Child residence and contact

When divorcing or separating couples have children, it is often necessary to determine child residence and child contact matters.

To determine where a child will live after a divorce it may be necessary to apply for a Child Arrangements Order. Such orders are used to determine where children will live, how much contact they will have with each of their parents and what types of contact will take place (for instance, visits or phone calls).

Our child law solicitors can help couples to apply for Child Arrangements Orders, as well as offer support with other matters related to children law, such as:

• Prohibited Steps Orders
• Specific Issue Orders
• Grandparents’ rights
• Parental Orders
• Parental Responsibility Orders
• Child adoption law

Domestic abuse

Sadly, many people will experience domestic abuse in relationships, an experience that can be incredibly traumatic for both the victim and any children involved. To remain physically and mentally safe, and remove oneself from the situation, legal intervention is often necessary.

Our team can offer legal support in many ways, for example, where clients need to obtain  Domestic Violence Injunctions, including a Non-Molestation Order or Occupation Order. If necessary, we can also support clients in obtaining Emergency and without notice Injunctions.

We appreciate that for the victims of domestic abuse, it can be hard to seek help. Our family solicitors are highly experienced and approach each case with both practicality and compassion.

Surrogacy

Using a surrogate and IVF to start a family can be incredibly exciting. Regardless, there are plenty of practical and legal considerations you’ll need to make in order to protect yourself.

Our team will always treat every case with respect and sensitivity, helping individuals and couples with a wide range of matters, including:

• Making the necessary applications to Court
• Obtaining parental orders
• Support to negotiate interim arrangements
• Legal advice on protecting surrogates and parents
• International surrogacy matters
• High Court and domestic court proceedings

Family mediation

Where parting couples are arranging financial or child law matters, they often need legal support to negotiate and arrange their affairs. Most of the time, it is not necessary to resort to Court processes to make these arrangements. Our experts at Dutton Gregory can assist individuals and couples with alternative dispute resolution processes, such as family mediation.

During the process, a trained mediator will assist parties in coming to mutually acceptable arrangements, for example, to split their finances during a divorce or to decide where their children will reside and who they will have contact with.

For more information about family mediation, please get in touch with our solicitors at Dutton Gregory using the details provided below.

Why choose our family lawyers at Dutton Gregory?

Authentic and valuable relationships

Our family law solicitors at Dutton Gregory are dedicated to offering an outstanding service for our clients. When you work with us for your family law matter, you’ll find our team to be approachable and compassionate, always tailoring our service to your needs. We strive to forge long-lasting professional relationships based on authentic value.

Tailor-made service

Our team understand that legal matters vary a great deal and that each family will have their own individual circumstances. For this reason, we take the time to assess your background and situation, meaning we can base our legal assistance on your unique case.

Lawyers you can depend on

Our family lawyers have an excellent reputation based on the expert and outstanding service we offer to our clients worldwide from our offices across Surrey, Dorset and Hampshire. We know that, in many cases, family law matters can be both convoluted and emotionally difficult.

At Dutton Gregory, we are always on hand to answer your concerns and will ensure that you are always well informed, no matter how complex the legal processes you are going through.

Award winning and nationally accredited

Our team of solicitors include a published family law author, award winners and nationally recognised and accredited professionals. We can boast a previous Hampshire Law Society Solicitor of the Year, a Spears 500 recognised solicitor and The Law Society’s Child Law, Family Law and Advanced Family Law Accreditations.

As well as providing legal advice, our family law solicitors are confident and capable advocates, meaning that they will be able to support you throughout your journey, from the initial meeting and throughout any court process.

Get in touch with our family law solicitors in Surrey, Dorset and Hampshire

Our family law solicitors can advise clients nationally and worldwide from our offices in Bournemouth, Chandler’s Ford, Poole, Winchester and Woking.

To arrange an initial consultation, you can contact your nearest office using the links above or fill in our quick enquiry form and we will get back to you soon.