Family lawyer recommendation, preferably Oxfordshire

[Jasandjules]

Can anyone recommend a good family lawyer please, preferably in the Oxfordshire area?

Asking on behalf of a female friend whose fiancé has been having an affair and now wants to end their relationship. She's understandably worried because they have a young son and she doesn't earn much because she's been raising him, whilst her fiancé has a lucrative career....

Thanks in advance.

[PurpleMoonlight]

https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-child-maintenanc...

[Jasandjules]

Thank you. I think she’s already looked at that but she needs to know more because they have shared assets such as the family home, which she can’t afford the mortgage on because of her part-time income, whilst he can.

[PurpleMoonlight]

Isn't that property law not family law?

[Jasandjules]

Not really because they have a son together. Areas of law often overlap but this is just like a divorce except that they aren’t married.

[PurpleMoonlight]

Jasandjules said:

Not really because they have a son together. Areas of law often overlap but this is just like a divorce except that they aren’t married.

No, it really isn't.

[mikees]

Not Oxfordshire but not far. I can recommend Coleman’s in Maidenhead who are brilliant

Mike

[Durzel]

The house might not necessarily be a shared asset - they are not married. Would need to establish how it was purchased, e.g. joint tenants, tenants in common, sole legal ownership of fiance, etc.

If the guy has been paying the lion share (all?) of the mortgage payments into it, and her financial contribution towards it is nominal or non-existant, one would presume he owns all the beneficial interest in it.

Child maintenance is a separate thing to this.

IANAL though so shrug

[hashtag]

You have mail

[ScoobyChris]

She has my sympathies - a horrible situation to be in.

One thing to bear in mind is that (good) solicitors are not cheap and it’s worth having a think about what she wants to get out of it and how realistic those expectations are. Not being married limits her “rights” so worth doing a bit of homework about what might be achievable first. Child maintenance is something she can apply for without a lawyer, but she’ll also want to consider a Parenting Plan to agree visitation, holidays, etc.

Best of luck to her!

Chris

[Jasandjules]

Thanks, guys.

My understanding is that not being married actually has much less impact than it used to - there was Court of Appeal case law quite a few years ago now about this, unless it’s since been overturned.

I’m not sure of the intricacies of the property ownership but ultimately she just wants to take advice from a good family lawyer for now because, as we all know, good ones are hard to find.

[WilliamWoollard]

Aplins in Banbury are fantastic, although we've never used them for exactly the circumstances you describe OP, we use them for everything else and would recommend 100%. Knowledgeable, efficient and reasonably priced.

http://www.aplins.co.uk/