Children & family law solicitors

What is family law?

For when life doesn’t quite go to plan, family law advice can be really helpful for navigating complex relationships, situations and importantly, child arrangements.

Family law covers a whole host of areas, including divorce and separation, financial settlements, child arrangements, domestic abuse, surrogacy, adoption and care proceedings. Our family law solicitors help you understand your options, make informed decisions and secure clear, legally robust outcomes at a time that can feel overwhelming. By reducing the burden and complexity, we’re by your side to help you through some of the most emotionally-heightened times of your life.

Whatever your situation, our experienced family lawyers have supported people in similar circumstances and can provide clear, practical family law advice tailored to you and your family.

Our services

Divorce & financial settlements

When considering a divorce, there is much at play and often the process can feel daunting and nerve-wracking. Whether the legal process itself, the finances or the impact proceedings might have on children, the stakes can often feel high.

Our family law solicitors guide you through every stage of divorce and financial settlement, helping you to resolve finances in a way that is fair, sustainable and focused on your future – covering the division of property, savings, pensions, businesses and spousal maintenance payments, also knowns as periodical payments.

We explore all your options including mediation and other non‑court dispute resolution such as collaborative law, arbitration and solicitor-led negotiation, to support faster and more cost‑effective alternatives to contested proceedings. When needed, we negotiate firmly and thoroughly, giving you peace of mind that your interests are being protected.

With clear information on family law options and family law fees up front, you stay in control of both the process, the cost and securing a brighter future.

When you think about divorce, what worries you most – the legal process, the finances, or the impact on children?

If you have more questions about your divorce, chat to AIDA.

Child arrangements & parenting

Our family solicitors help parents agree safe, workable arrangements that put your child’s welfare first, whether you are separating, already apart or facing a dispute about care. Child arrangements orders set out where a child lives and how time is shared with each parent, and our family lawyers explain in plain English when a court order is appropriate and when it is not.

Often, parents can avoid court completely by working with us on practical parenting plans that cover day‑to‑day routines, holidays, communication and decision‑making. At every stage, our focus is on constructive family law advice that reduces conflict and keeps children at the centre of decisions.

Prenuptial & postnuptial agreements

Gaining significant recognition in the UK courts, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements are becoming a must-have for couples.

Couples can get lost in the romance and euphoria of getting married and can either ignore or marginalise the financial risks and realities that follow marriage. All couples contemplating marriage, irrespective of their financial or other circumstances, and well before they have fixed a date for their marriage, should consider the need and suitability of an agreement for themselves.

Our family lawyers draft prenuptial and postnuptial agreements that set out clearly how assets will be divided if you separate, giving both partners financial clarity and peace of mind. A prenuptial agreement is made before a marriage or civil partnership; a postnuptial agreement is made afterwards, to shore-up existing marriage contracts or when circumstances or asset levels have changed. They can be especially valuable where there are significant assets, a family business, inherited wealth, a second marriage or a blended family.

While these agreements are not automatically binding in England and Wales, courts usually give them significant weight when both parties received independent family law advice, were transparent about their finances and the agreement was properly prepared. Our family law solicitors ensure your agreement is fair, carefully drafted and aligned with your long‑term goals.

Care proceedings & social services

Our family solicitors represent parents and family members in care proceedings, protecting your rights when local authority intervention puts family life at risk.

Care proceedings arise when children’s services apply to the court for a care order or supervision order, often at very short notice, and the process can feel frightening and fast‑moving. You are entitled to legal representation, and it is vital to get urgent family law advice so you understand what is happening, what assessments are planned and how your voice can be heard. Legal aid is available for care proceedings, and our team can advise on eligibility and funding clearly. With a highly experienced family lawyer by your side, you are not facing Care Proceedings alone..

Domestic abuse & injunctions

You are in safe hands – our family lawyers act quickly where you or your children are at risk, working with you to find the best solution moving forward. We recognise that domestic abuse comes in many forms – emotional, psychological, financial and coercive control – and our family law solicitors respond with sensitive, empowering and decisive advice that prioritises your safety and choices.

We help you gain some breathing space, including applying for emergency injunctions. A non‑molestation order can be obtained urgently, sometimes without notifying the other person in advance, and can prohibit threats, harassment or contact to give you immediate protection. An occupation order can, in some situations, require a partner or ex‑partner to leave the family home or restrict their right to return.

We also expertly deal with domestic abuse as it arises in all family court proceedings, including divorce, and particularly those involving children, where we have success in obtaining child arrangement orders, prohibited steps orders and specific issue orders.

You do not have to wait until things get worse before asking for help.

Modern families & surrogacy

Our family law solicitors support and celebrate all modern family structures. We provide inclusive family law advice for surrogacy, adoption, unmarried couples and cohabiting partners.

Surrogacy

Surrogacy is a deeply personal and legally complex journey, and one our family law solicitors are proud to support. We guide intended parents through the full legal framework, from understanding the nature of surrogacy arrangements and the implications for parental responsibility, through to securing a parental order so that you are formally recognised as your child’s legal parents in law. We advise at every stage, helping you plan carefully and proceed with confidence.

Adoption

Adoption changes lives, and the legal process underpinning it deserves careful, considered advice. Our family lawyers explain each stage of the journey, including eligibility criteria, the role of adoption agencies, and the important distinctions between agency adoption and more private family arrangements. We take the time to ensure you fully understand the process and what to expect, so that you can focus on what matters most.

Unmarried couples and cohabitation

One of the most common misconceptions in family law is ‘common law marriage’. It often carries the mistaken belief that long-term cohabiting couples automatically acquire the same legal rights as married partners. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Our family lawyers provide clear, honest advice on the rights of unmarried and cohabiting couples, and the protections – or absence of them – that currently exist in law. Where appropriate, we prepare thoughtfully drafted cohabitation agreements that record how you own property, share finances, and manage separation, protecting the interests of both parties from the outset.

With family structures becoming more complex, being able to provide intelligent solutions and powerful consultancy, ensures you’re proactively presented and protected to matter what your family normal looks like.