Family Law Solicitors Manchester

Family Law Specialist Solicitors

Dealing with a relationship break down, childcare disputes, or other family law issues can be stressful and emotionally difficult for everyone involved.

If you need help resolving a family law issue, having a specialist solicitor on your side can be invaluable. As well as resolving the matter efficiently and cost-effectively, a solicitor who specialises in family law can help you defuse conflict and minimise the risk of the issue spiralling into lengthy court proceedings.

Our family lawyers in Manchester have over 20 years of experience. We can provide practical advice combined with a warm, personal service. Our goal is our clients’ happiness. We are proud to have been awarded the Lexcel quality mark by The Law Society, which indicates that the firm works to the highest management and client care standards. We want you to be able to move on with your life as swiftly as possible and will work tirelessly to help you achieve a positive result.

We can skilfully help with all types of family law issue and have particular expertise working with High Net Worth individuals and on international family law matters. We also specialise in LGBT+ family law.

We are members of the Law Society Family Law Advanced Accreditation scheme for our skills in complex family law matters. Several of our team members are also members of Resolution, an organisation of family law specialists who focus on helping families find positive solutions while avoiding court wherever possible.

Get in touch with our family solicitors in Manchester by calling 02085467969, emailing info@crispandco.com or filling in our online enquiry form to request a call back.

Our family law services in Manchester

Divorce, civil partnership dissolution & relationship breakdown

For many couples, making the decision to separate is not easy. As well as the emotional pain of separation, there are many complex matters to sort out, such as:

• Where you both will live
• Where the children will live
• How you will manage the finances in the short-term (such as bills)
• How you will divide your finances in the long-term

We can guide you through the entire divorce or dissolution process, including:

• Making the divorce or dissolution application
• Negotiating financial arrangements with your former partner, such as the division of property and ongoing maintenance payments
• Negotiating arrangements for children with your former partner

Where appropriate, we can provide alternative dispute resolution services such as collaborative law to help you sort out divorce or dissolution matters amicably. With us on your side, there is little chance that you will need to go to court, saving you time, costs and stress.

Prenuptial agreements, pre-civil partnership agreements & post-nuptial agreements

Nowadays it is common for people to get married or enter into a civil partnership later in life when one or both parties already own property or significant savings and/or have children from a previous relationship. A prenuptial agreement can help you safeguard your financial interests in case you and your partner ever break up.

The agreement will set out exactly who owns what and how your assets should be divided during any divorce or dissolution proceedings. So long as the agreement is fair to both parties at the time of your divorce, the court is likely to take it into account. This will minimise the risk of conflict and give you peace of mind that your money and property is protected.

Our prenuptial agreement solicitors in Manchester can help you negotiate a fair agreement in an informal, welcoming environment. We can provide advice on what to include in the agreement and help defuse any conflict so you don’t need to worry about the discussions stirring up unnecessary tensions in your relationship.

Cohabitation agreements

If you live with a partner but are not married or you are in a civil partnership, consider making a cohabitation agreement to protect your financial interests. As a cohabiting couple, you do not have any rights to your partner’s property save for in circumstances where you own property jointly or you have children together). A cohabitation agreement sets out exactly who owns what and how your property should be divided if you ever break up.

Our cohabitation agreement solicitors in Manchester can help you negotiate a fair agreement that clearly reflects your living situation as a couple. We will provide advice on what to include in the agreement to ensure your interests are protected while helping you avoid any unnecessary conflict with your partner.

Children

Our children law solicitors in Manchester can help with all private family law issues relating to children, including:

• Living arrangements and decisions about upbringing upon parental separation
• Child maintenance agreements, including negotiating family-based arrangements and using the Child Maintenance Service
• Adoption, surrogacy, and artificial insemination
• Parental responsibility

We know that your children’s happiness during this difficult time will be a major concern. We promise to keep their welfare central, listen carefully to any concerns you may have about the proceedings and provide practical solutions.

LGBT+ family law

Our team have specialised in the family law issues affecting LGBT+ individuals, couples and families for many years. We can help with all types of issues, including:

• Same sex marriage
• Civil partnership
• Divorce and dissolution
• Cohabitation
• Prenups and post-nups
• Adoption
• Surrogacy
• Egg and sperm donation and artificial insemination
• Parental responsibility

Domestic violence

If you and your children are experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse from a partner, former partner or relative, we can help you seek legal protection. Domestic violence takes many forms, from physical violence, to verbal abuse such as insults and threats, to financial abuse, to sexual abuse.

Whatever abusive behaviours you are facing, we can help you apply for a range of court orders to prevent the abuser from approaching you, speaking to you, or doing anything else. We can also seek a court order to force the abuser to leave the family home if you live together (even if they own the property with you).

Family dispute resolution in Manchester

We specialise in helping families find constructive, positive solutions to family law issues. Therefore, court is usually a last resort and instead we focus on resolving points of conflict or disagreement through alternative dispute resolution.

Our family lawyers are members of Resolution, an organisation of family law specialists who dedicate their practise to alternative dispute resolution. Our team includes qualified collaborative lawyers and mediation specialists who can assist you.

Family mediation in Manchester

Mediation is typically a fast and cost-effective way of resolving all sorts of family law matters, from negotiating divorce financial settlements, to childcare disputes, to cohabitation agreements and pre-nups.

It involves attending a series of meetings in an informal setting with your partner or former partner and a qualified mediator to try to resolve the issue. The mediator will not provide legal advice or take sides, their role is to guide your discussion and defuse any conflict.

At the end of the sessions, if you are able to come to an agreement, the mediator will write up your agreement which you can send to court to be turned into a legally binding Consent Order. Our family law solicitors can provide advice about using mediation and its suitability for your case.

Collaborative law in Manchester

Like mediation, collaborative law is usually faster and cheaper than going to court but it is more suitable for complex family law issues, such as matters involving international assets. It involves attending a series of meetings with your partner/former partner and your respective collaborative lawyers. Your collaborative lawyer will be trained specifically to negotiate on your behalf during these sessions and help you explore possible resolutions.

Get in touch with our family solicitors in Manchester

Get in touch with our family solicitors in Manchester by calling 02085467969, emailing info@crispandco.com or filling in our online enquiry form to request a call back.