We all know about divorce lawyers and how much they matter when a family is separating, but most of us don’t really know the deeper levels of what they do or how they operate. A divorce can be a messy situation, and trained family lawyers often have a lot to handle behind the scenes. If you are considering divorce, or just want to be prepared for future issues, what exactly should you know ahead of time?
The Basics of Divorce
Under current UK law, there are five main grounds for divorce, with a sixth likely arriving soon. These are adultery (cheating), unreasonable behavior from at least one side of the marriage, mutual separation for two years, non-mutual separation for five years, or a dissertation after two years of being left alone by your spouse.
The upcoming sixth condition is a no-fault divorce, which could allow unhappy marriages to end on mutually agreed terms with no blame on either side.
Divorce may take up to six months to petition, which doesn’t even count the process itself. If financial matters and details are involved, it may take even longer, and some messy divorces have been known to take up to a year or even longer to fully finalize. For this reason, good family lawyers are essential: they can speed up the case and provide advice that you would otherwise never have access to.
What Do They Do?
Family lawyers are experienced in all kinds of laws relating to family relationships, and divorces are among their most common causes. Divorce lawyers will have to deal with money, property, children, and possibly even legal restraining orders or other restrictions. They can have a lot of different factors to manage when they are looking over the case.
Let us give an example case to some fictional family lawyers: ‘London family with two children splits.’ In this case, there can be many particular details that get passed along to the lawyers: London property owned by the family might have to be shared, assets might need to be split up, and custody of the children will need to be arranged.
Specific details within the relationship can alter how the process goes, too. A family without a cohabitation agreement might not need to split the assets reasonably. A divorce caused by an abusive partner might automatically give custody of the children to their spouse.
Mediation
A family lawyer isn’t just focused on the immediate legal proceedings of the case itself, though. They can arrange family mediation, which acts as a formal way of ‘airing dirty laundry’ by allowing the relationship’s problems to come out into the open, making it much easier for the couple to decide how they should proceed. If the relationship isn’t working, but neither side has been abusive or deceitful to one another, this can sometimes be a valuable tool for both sides of the marriage.
In situations where the divorce is agreed upon, this can also allow the spouses to collaborate and arrange the rest of the proceedings on their own terms, even if they no longer live together. The family lawyers will act as a representative of your legal rights and protect you from any unfair or illegitimate agreements that are put forward.
Should I Use Divorce Lawyers?
Good divorce lawyers aren’t just focused on the divorce itself and will act as critical advisors when the situation gets messy and hard to work through. With more prolonged cases or ones that involve a lot of meticulous legal work, they can also make sure that their client isn’t being led into an unfair agreement that goes against their wishes or rights. For example, finding the best family lawyers, London can offer you will generally speed up the process and make the end result much more beneficial for both of you.
There are very few reasons not to get family lawyers involved when going through a divorce. Even if you are only at the initial stages and haven’t worked very much out, you could benefit from a legal expert who might know exactly which direction to take. The more complicated your situation, the more critical it becomes to get advice from somebody who knows the legal ins and outs of a typical divorce.
Featured Image by Виктория Бородинова from Pixabay