Divorce on the increase

120,000.

This is the number of divorces that took place in 2010 (statistics provided by the Office for National Statistics).  As shocking and as sad as it may seem, it is a fact.  The rate of divorce is back on the increase. Following a short period of levelling off in 2008, the number of divorcing couples is continuing on the upward trend.

Analysing the reasons behind divorce, we find that they range from extra-marital affairs, to unreasonable behaviour, falling out of love, emotional and physical abuse, workaholics and even business related problems.  However, some analysts claim that couples are marrying too quickly these days: believing that the ideology of love will last forever: without tackling the most difficult questions relating to their objectives in marriage first.

You may be reading this and thinking that you see yourself in this scenario: as one of the statistics.  Perhaps you are currently going through a divorce or perhaps you are currently contemplating divorce.

Whatever the reason, whatever the underlying cause, if you are going through divorce or contemplating divorce,  it is vital to deal with it in the right way.  You are not just a statistic.  You are human, with feelings and emotions and just to get to this stage would have been difficult enough.  All too easily, guilt can consume you and you believe that because you have been the one to arrive at this decision, you are the one that is in the wrong.  Regardless of fault, the juncture in your marriage has arrived and very difficult decisions have to be made to enable you to move forward.

Careful planning and logical thinking needs to be applied to any divorce matter, as otherwise, there is every danger that you will lose all that you have built up in your marriage: your financial security, your home and perhaps your children.  Apparently, the majority of divorces applied for, take place within the second decade of your marriage – so between years 11-20.  In the majority of these cases, not only will assets have been accumulated, but businesses would have been established and most importantly, you will have children to consider as well.

Bains Cohen are specialist London divorce lawyers, that provide honest advice, tailored specifically to your needs and requirements.  At the time in your life when you feel lost and lacking control of the situation around you, let us regain control and guide you to the settlement that you rightfully deserve and not one that you have been pushed in to.

As specialist London divorce lawyers, with acute business knowledge, we apply strategic planning to each divorce matter before us.  We appreciate that your financial security is in our hands and that responsibility is taken very seriously.  We are not a routine firm of solicitors that believe that a simple compliance with the legal requirements and procedure will see you though to the end of your divorce.  It will, but where will you be at the end?  Employing a strategic approach will place you in the best position possible to ensure that you and your interests are looked after.

At Bains Cohen, we will make sure that you are always top priority and never just a statistic.

Rupinder Bains

Partner

Bains Cohen LLP 

The Queen’s Speech - Rights For Separated Fathers Finally Get A Look In.

The importance of fathers is finally being recognised and was highlighted In Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s speech on 9^th May 2012.  It was revealed that a consultation will take place which could radically reform the law governing children to enable both separated parents an equal caring arrangement with their children.

As (perhaps through personal experience) you may be aware, under our current legislation, as set out in the provisions of The Children Act 1989, Judges and Magistrates must consider the independent views provided by CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) when being asked to decide where children should live after their parents’ have separated and how often children should see the non-resident parent. The order which is made by the Court is considered as a decision which has been made in the “best interests” of the child.  The welfare principle, incorporating considerations of the children’s physical, emotional and educational needs are applied when coming to this decision.  However, unless the mother can be shown to be an alcoholic, drug addict or suffering from a psychotic mental condition, I can tell you, that the chances of attaining shared residence, are minimal at best.  The mother is almost always considered to be best placed to look after the children, with the father getting the odd weekend and some holiday contact (if he’s that lucky).

It has always been considered that the mother, even if she is a working parent, is best placed to look after the children.  I have always found this to be most antagonising when representing a hard working father, who works all the hours he can for the sake of his children, who then may only spend one hour each evening with them – but that one hour is so precious: this one hour is the quality time that both children and father crave and need.  That one hour, where the entire day’s stress and strain is forgotten about by the father, and where the children excitedly recite the day’s events at school.  This is simply a snapshot of the relationship and bond between a father and his children.  The weekend brings more time: walks in the park, bike rides, barbecues, and just general ‘together time’, which serves to cement the bond between father and child.   

I have yet to see a case, where after a couple separates, the father has been able to retain any semblance of contact, even remotely close to the time that he shared with his children before separation. 

Don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming the mothers here and in cases, where the mothers are the main breadwinners, I am sure that the same situation arises with them.  However, I am more concerned about cases where both parties are working parents.  Even here, the mother is seen to be the main carer, in spite of the children’s ages and sex.  The Court, for all its welfare principles and children’s interests, has always been inclined to side towards the mother.

Divorce and Separation are hard for the parties and the children: emotionally and financially.  But as a devoted father, knowing that the odds are stacked against you as far as your children are concerned, is the most difficult fact to bear.  So many heart wrenching stories have been reported of distraught fathers and their desperate actions following separation.  These actions, certainly cannot be condoned, but are in most instances, the actions of fathers having fallen in to severe depression, fallen in to a deep deep emotional black hole, from which they can find no way out.

Are things about to change?

The current proposals start with an automatic principle of shared care – this is basically a flip of the current situation: now we start from a position of equality and then it is up to both parties to present submissions as to why this is not a good idea.

As always, there has been a lot of criticism of the proposals, with many lawyers even arguing that the current practice and procedure is more than sufficient and therefore there is no real need for this new Bill.  I would stick my neck out and disagree.

The current procedures are needed and essential to assess the interests of the children.  But in practice, the Courts veered towards the mother in their interpretation of the legislation and the fathers would always start from the back foot.  By introducing a shared care arrangement, fathers are ensured that they would be starting off from an equal position.  The Courts would still need to apply the welfare principle, but if the Bill passes through in to legislation, it will no longer be possible to simply push fathers to one side..

I’ll keep you updated as this develops through Parliament, but for now, to all you fathers out there struggling for contact with your children, please keep pushing for contact. Things will get better.

Article for Strategic Divorces & Divorces For Men

What’s yours is mine…what’s mine is yours…

Isn’t that the old adage?

Well, in divorcing couples, the starting point is pretty close to that: 50-50.  For some of you, that may seem fair and acceptable.  But for many, it is a principle that reeks of unfairness.  Years of hard work, long hours to build up that business, allowing you to live in a lovely house, with beautiful furniture, take luxurious holidays several times a year and now your divorcing ex who has not worked a day will be entitled to half of everything?

Let me be a little more precise here – if you have young children, who will be residing mainly with the divorcing ex, a little more than 50% will be awarded!  Can make you feel a little unnerved, can’t it?

Strategic planning is vital in divorce cases.  It could make a big difference between meeting a divorcing ex’s needs or paying over the odds.

I wish I had met Kevin Fiore before his breakdown and perhaps the interpretation that he applied to the ‘equality of division’ principle would have been less literal!

Some of you may have read about Kevin in this week’s Metro (25^th July 2012), in which it was reported that he took revenge on his ex-wife, by sawing their furniture in to pieces and writing ‘Kev’s half’ on some of them.  His actions had him arrested and on Monday he received a two year Supervision Order at Stoke Crown Court for his actions which had resulted in £5,184 worth of damage to property in the family home.

Although a very real and literal approach to the equality of division principle, it’s not one that the courts will think too highly about.

Come and speak to one of the Family Lawyers here at Bains Cohen and let us formulate a strategy to help you through your divorce.  Don’t leave it too late!

Rupinder Bains

Partner

Bains Cohen LLP

Contact With Children For Divorcing Dads

Two years and eight months later and finally, we have come to an end of what I can only describe as the most heart wrenching battle for a father to see his children.

My client, in his late 40’s, a respected City banker and devoted father was being denied contact with his children.  Why?  For many years now, his marriage was falling apart.  Constant arguments, his wife berating him in public and even physical abuse.  My client began a relationship with another woman and six months in to this new relationship, decided to tell his wife about it and also, that the marriage was over.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I am not condoning extra-marital affairs at all and that is not the purpose of this article.  What followed next is the nightmare that most fathers dread.

As punishment for the affair, my client, who up until then was considered to be the perfect ‘hands on’ father (as much as he could as he worked long hours too): always at football meetings, parents meetings at school, took the kids to the cinema, was now denied all contact.

We put in an immediate application for contact and received back notification that the mother of the children feared for their safety as their father was an alcoholic and abused her on numerous occasions in front of the children.

This allegation alone was enough for the Court to take protective measures.  Despite my client’s vehement protestations of innocence, the tears of his wife were enough for the Court to err on the side of caution and stop all contact, until a full CAFCASS report had been prepared and a fact finding hearing had taken place.

Complying with all requests was not good enough – my client’s wife demanded more and more from him.  At one point, he simply wanted to pack it all in and believed that his children would come to see him of their own accord, when they were old enough.

As Family Law Specialists we fought our client’s corner – not giving up and not letting him give up.  Starting off with visiting contact, we very quickly increased this to weekend staying contact and now, I am happy to say that shared residence of his two boys has been achieved.  Now my client can rest easy, knowing that he is playing an equal role in his children’s lives.  We can fight for you: we can present your case to make sure that no avenue is left unexplored in your journey to see your kids.  Thinking outside of the box – strategically pre-empting difficulties and dealing with them, will make sure that your rights as a father are never simply pushed aside.

Rupinder Bains

Partner

Bains Cohen LLP

Quicker Justice for Fathers?

Are you currently involved in long and stressful court proceedings in a fight to have contact with your children? Do you ever feel like there will never be an end to your on-going struggle to see your children?

I suspect you do not feel alone as it has been reported that family justice is currently under a huge strain with around 20,000 families currently waiting for the Court to resolve their dispute. Parents are regularly being advised to use mediation to make arrangements for caring for their children and to only turn to the courts as a last resort. However mediation is not always the best course of action, especially where hostilities exist between the parents and this inevitable means that many fathers find that they continue to struggle to enjoy sufficient contact with their children and the Court’s involvement is the only way they are able to see their children.

So is there good news for fathers on the horizon?

Mr Justice Rider and the Lord Chief Justice have announced plans to minimise the time it takes for family courts to speed up cases that are heard in England and Wales.

The above proposal includes plans for a single family court run by both judges and magistrates to replace the current system where judges sit in multiple court buildings. This will replace the current system where cases can be heard in either one of three Courts; the Family Division of the High Court, County Court and Family Proceedings Court.

So will this mean that fathers will get to see their children quicker? Well as London Family Law Specialists, we are hopeful the proposals will speed up the current system to make a difference to fathers seeking contact.

Under the current rules, CAFCASS provides what is known as a “Wishes and Feelings Report” or if required, a “Section 7 Report” stating their views of the children’s’ feeling about having contact with the non-resident parent. However with CAFCASS being over-burdened, many fathers have been left feeling frustrated about the slow and insufficient procedures currently in place.

In an attempt to counter this possibility of delay, Mr Justice Ryder has made the radical recommendation that the views of children be communicated directly to the Court. This will mean that children will be given a direct voice to the Judge to make their views known in decisions that affect them. Naturally this will apply to children of certain ages and abilities, but this could be a huge progression in legal proceedings: removing the fear of delay caused by CAFCASS and complaints of unfair and biased reports being prepared.

Not only will children be able to be heard quickly and directly by the Judge, but under the new recommendations Judges will also receive more training and guidance to help them reach quicker decisions and in some cases, make quicker decisions as to how much contact a father should have with their children.

Of course many children are of an age where they can clearly express their views to a Court and are aware of the Court case that concerns them. By allowing children to have a faster route to explaining to a Judge that they want to have contact with their father, will invariably mean that contact disputes will resolve sooner rather than later.

This sounds fantastic and finally a step in the right direction to achieving some justice for fathers striving for contact.  However, these are only recommendations at this stage and one cannot get too excited as there is a long way to go before the current procedure is changed in any way.  Issues’ involving residence and contact with infants is something that also remains to be tackled.  But what we can see is a clear indication of a shift in the thinking of the Court system and the judiciary towards fathers and whilst it has been a long time coming, the change of direction will be welcomed by fathers everywhere.  No doubt, there will be opposition to the proposals from various groups lobbying for the law to remain as it is, as surely children cannot be trusted to tell the Courts what they want – and hence, the need to remain grounded and not get too excited about the proposals.

For now, it is important for all you fathers out there to challenge the status quo in a strategic manner. The first step in any strategy will be to establish contact or residence with your children ASAP.  It may appear a long winded process at the present time: but with the right representation and the correct approach, it can be achieved.  At Bains Cohen LLP, we pride ourselves on being specialist London Family Law Solicitors who strive for fighting for fathers’ rights to have contact with their children as quickly and as less stressful as possible. If you are fighting an on-going contact battle or are considering issuing court action or contemplating mediation, please contact us on 0208 252 7373 to discuss the strategies available to you.

Rebecca Antoniou

Solicitor

Bains Cohen LLP

Big Money Divorce Cases

“Senior Judge Likens Wealthy Couple To Squabbling Children”- This was the headline to an article in last month’s Telegraph, reporting on the much publicised breakdown in the marriage of Mr and Mrs Evans – a couple whose assets were valued at over £50 million.

Mr Justice Thorpe stated that the case was almost ‘puerile’ and that someone needed to ‘come into the nursery’ and sort out their ‘nonsense’ – harsh words.

The couple in question were penniless when they married in 1985 and since this time, Mr Evans’ entrepreneurial flair brought in huge success. The family lived a luxurious, opulent lifestyle in the latter part of their marriage – all due to the new wealth that had been brought in.

Mrs Evans was awarded assets of £26 million, but her representatives have appealed this ruling and the parties are still waiting for another hearing to divide their wealth.

It may all seem like childish tantrums to some, but we at Bains Cohen appreciate the concerns that arise when divorce takes place in couples of wealth.  Often such wealth and assets are accumulated during the marriage alone and often, by one of the parties.  To simply give up such huge sums of money may not appear just or reflective of one’s hours of stress and turmoil during the marriage, especially if the breakup of the marriage is not your fault either.  In other cases, parties come in to the marriage with significant assets which need to be protected.

Bains Cohen London Family Solicitors have represented many high net worth clients and entrepreneurs and we have ensured that at each stage, their financial position was protected and looked after.

“Playing in the nursery” is something we do not do, but putting up a battle and preparing a strategic war is what we are experts at.  Divorce is not an easy experience to go through and to pretend otherwise would be a lie.  But with Bains Cohen you place yourself in the care of solicitors with technical know-how and a savvy, innovative approach.  Come and speak to us and see for yourself.

Rupinder Bains

Managing Partner

BAINS COHEN LLP

Saving Your Assets

It seemed like a mission impossible but Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have reached a financial settlement in their divorce case less than two weeks after Holmes filed for divorce, in a New York Court.   Rumours have it that a prenuptial agreement had been entered in to by the parties which resulted in the ‘quickie settlement’.

How likely is it that this could happen in the UK?

Of course, the extent of a couple’s matrimonial assets will differ from one marriage to the next, and most of us do not have the luxury of Cruise’s $180 million in the bank to consider how best to protect its future. What is certain however, regardless of the amount of wealth that you are holding, with the right legal advice, and with the right strategies in place, you could protect your wealth as much as possible.  In this article I will focus on protecting yourself financially before divorce: in fact, before you even enter in to matrimony.

Prenuptial agreements are the only real way in which to safeguard your interests but until very recently, they were not given any weight in the English Courts. Last year, in a landmark case [Radmacher v Grantino], the Court of Appeal reversed the earlier decision of the High Court to disregard the parties’ prenup - instead holding them to it.  The parties were both foreign nationals, the wife German and the husband French, who had signed a prenup valid under German law but then divorced in England.  At the first ruling the High Court awarded the husband £5.6m even though the prenup had stated that neither party would seek maintenance from the other in the event of divorce.  The Court of Appeal allowed the wife’s appeal.

On appeal the court stressed that prenups are not automatically binding under English law and that the case turned on its specific facts.  Heavy emphasis was placed on the fact that both parties were foreign nationals from jurisdictions where such agreements are binding and the court ultimately upheld the prenup.

This ruling has created a huge shift in family proceedings.  But, and I cannot stress this enough, the ruling does not mean that the English Courts will simply accept the terms of any pre-nup as a binding document.  There are a whole array of factors and hurdles that you have to comply with in order for your prenup to even get a look in.  Independent legal advice for both parties, full disclosure of assets, consideration of any children (now and in the future) are just some of the factors that need to be thought about and complied with.

Sounds complicated – but it doesn’t have to be.  At Bains Cohen, we have all the expertise in place to ensure your prenuptial agreement will be relied upon at Court should the unfortunate situation of divorce arise.  Sorting out your financial affairs before marriage may sound clinical and rather loveless – but the prenup is no stranger overseas and it will be seen more and more in our English Courts.  Protecting your assets before your marriage could save you thousands of pounds in litigation and more importantly your bank account! If I tell you that the English Court’s starting point for consideration of matrimonial assets on divorce is an equal division: 50- 50, I am sure the idea of prenups is becoming ever more appealing.

Let me put it in to perspective: Where an individual owns substantial assets, is likely to receive an inheritance, has significantly larger amount of assets than the spouse-to-be and/or the spouse has substantial debt or where you are not sure about your partner’s motives, pre-nuptial agreements are the only way of protecting your future financial position in the event of a breakdown in your  marriage. 

Look at it another way: if you are  an entrepreneur, if you own a business or if you are a high flyer in your field of expertise:  likely to achieve great success in your business or career, do you really want to risk half of everything being given to your spouse on divorce?

We understand that nothing kills a romantic candle lit dinner than saying  “honey, I want a prenup” however protecting yourself and your future is paramount even if that means having a discussion with your partner on the benefits of a prenup for both parties. Of course no one wants their marriage to end or goes into their marriage thinking it might come to an end in the future, but with divorce rates back on the increase, a little planning at the right time is never a bad thing.

As far as the Holmes and Cruise settlement agreement is concerned, it is likely to include a bullet proof confidentiality clause which means that we will never know any of the details of the settlement and by doing so, both parties’ reputations remain intact and particularly, Cruises’ future earning capacity in the film industry should remain unaffected.

So, if you are thinking about saying ‘I do’, as part of your wedding preparations, just step back and think about the future as well.  Are you the “highflyer” in the marriage, are you coming into your marriage with a significant amount of assets? Then you might want to think about how to have “that” conversation with your partner. You would be well-advised to come and speak to one of our experts as soon as possible about entering into a prenuptial agreement or, if you have already entered in to a prenuptial agreement and want to know whether it will be valid and binding on divorce, we can help with that too.

Rupinder Bains

Partner

Bains Cohen LLP