Julie Bennett

Parental Alienation is often cited as a reason why a parent isn't having contact with their child(ren) or hasn't seen their child(ren) in some time. This becomes a very distressing situation for parents who feel they are being alienated fro

With over 30 years’ experience, Hughes Paddison’s Family Team are experts at helping couples navigate what can be one of the biggest traumas they will experience in their lifetime. With years of experience of tumultuous divorce...

The government has proposed changes to the way Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is calculated on separation or divorce. In this blog, family director, Julie Bennett, looks at the proposed changes and how these changes will impact spouses and civil partners upon divorce and dissolution.

‘Given that cohabiting couples are the fastest growing family type in England, it is surprising that they do not share the same legal rights as others.’

Caroline Nokes, chair of the Women and Equalities Committees.

A recent inquiry of The Women and Equalities Committee has found that the number of cohabitating partners in England and Wales is rising with over 3.4 million partners currently cohabitating in 2020. This is an increase from 1.5 million in 1996 which makes it a popular family unit in today’s society.

It's December, hats and scarves are out, we are all thinking about how we will spend the festive holiday and who we can spend it with in light of the COVID-19 tiered restrictions. Recently we have had to put more thought into how to spend time safely...

Section 2 of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc) Act 2019 requires the government to make and bring into force regulations to extend civil partnerships to mixed sex couples by 31 December 2019. Other countries, including South...

On 01 July 2019 the Pension Advisory Group published its report providing guidance on the treatment of pensions in divorce. The Pension Advisory Group ( PAG) is a multi-disciplinary group of professionals specialising in financial remedies and pensions on divorce jointly chaired by Mr Justice Francis and His Honour Judge Edward Hess and supported by the President of the Family Division and the Family Justice Council.

The ability of the court to make a pension sharing order in divorce has existed since 2000, despite this there has been a lack of clear guidance to assist in how to treat what can often be one the largest assets in a marriage. Dealing correctly with pensions on divorce is one of the most complex aspects in family cases.

The PAG report aims to provide this guidance.

Spring is in the air and many happy couples are looking forward to getting married this year. The wedding planning ‘to do’ list can seem endless, with some aspects of the big day ‘nice to have’ rather than ‘essential’, but...

It is a dangerous myth that once you have your Decree Absolute in divorce, this automatically dismisses all financial claims you and your spouse have against each other. This is not the case, a financial order is required to dismiss all financial...