Elizabeth Wyatt
PartnerHead of the family team, which specialises in divorce and complex care proceedings.
Head of the family team, which specialises in divorce and complex care proceedings.
I am a partner who heads up the private client team, which specialises in advising professionals, and people in business, in and around the Midlands. I am a member of Resolution and vice chair of Relate, Birmingham. I am also one of the recommended solicitors for The Grandparents' Association.
My main area of expertise is in advising people in divorce proceedings, when their financial claims are complex or high in value.
I am a divorce lawyer and I've been working with matrimonial clients in and out of court for over 25 years, and have been described by peers as extremely competent and a safe pair of hands. My pragmatic, supportive and down-to-earth approach has resulted in the majority of my clients being referred by personal recommendation.
I'm ranked as a “notable practitioner” by Chambers and Partners 2017 for family and matrimonial, where clients comments included "an utterly fantastic solicitor" and "a leader in the industry", with one client was particularly happy with the "very thorough and yet easy to understand analysis of why my options were".
Chambers has also listed me as being "experienced, firm and clear - she fought hard and I knew I could rely on her integrity", "passionate about what she does" and "gives individual attention to each case."
'Liz Wyatt is very experienced and has a fantastic rapport with clients.' Legal 500, 2021
'[Elizabeth] possesses a market-leading practice in financial remedy proceedings, including cross-border mandates. Sources enthuse: "She is one of the doyennes of family law in Birmingham."' Chambers and Partners, 2021
Family team partner, Elizabeth Wyatt, is delighted to congratulate Kadie Bennett for attaining Resolution Specialist Accreditation in both children law - private and complex financial remedy matters.
Liz Wyatt explains how using tools such as the CAFCASS Parenting Plan and OurFamilyWizard can make conversations around children easier when a relationship breaks down.
Following the announcement by the Justice Secretary of the Government’s consultation and plan to ‘end the blame game’, how will this affect the future of divorce?
Any measure created in contemplation of divorce, or within a relatively short period before it, is potentially reviewable by the court if it is intended to defeat a spouse’s claim for financial relief.
Arising from the recent Family Division announcement, people who think they are legally divorced may in fact still be married.
I have just finished watching the lovely Christopher Eccleston on BBC iPlayer’s Come Home (#spoileralert in case you haven’t seen it yet). It’s about a family where, rather unusually, the mother leaves the marriage, her home and most shockingly, her children.
The statutory ground for divorce under the 1973 Matrimonial Causes Act, amended by the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, is the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage of at least one year’s duration.
Despite allegations of aged old paternalism, courts are increasingly turning to empowerment of the litigants to reach an agreement themselves, reducing the need for costly and time-consuming final hearings.
In the context of society at large, the law continues to be a relatively conservative entity that is not always entirely at ease with the more recently recognised family set up.
In the absence of adultery or long periods of separation, those who want to end their marriage need to detail allegations of unreasonable behaviour on the part of their spouse.
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