A parent who wants to take the children to live in Tel Aviv, Tehran, Nicosia or Bucharest; a grandparent in Edgware who has not seen a grandchild since the separation; a couple in Finchley who married under religious law and now discover that English law barely recognises the marriage: family law solicitors in Barnet deal with all of these, and the borough's mix of faiths and nationalities shapes the work. Relocation applications, Hague Convention returns and disputes over a child's religious upbringing are common here.
Before a court will accept most applications about children, the parent applying has to have been to a mediation information and assessment meeting, and many Barnet disputes end there, in a consent order a judge approves on paper. Those that go further are heard at Barnet's own family court in Finchley, with Cafcass advising on welfare, rather than in central London. Abuse changes the pace: an injunction keeping a violent partner away from the home can be granted within days, legal aid is available for it, and parents whom Barnet Council takes into care proceedings qualify for legal aid regardless of income.
Unmarried couples are the group most often caught out. There is no common-law marriage, and a partner who is not on the title to a house in Whetstone or Colindale may have no claim to it. A declaration of trust at the time of purchase, or a cohabitation agreement later, settles the point while everyone is still speaking. Prenuptial agreements are increasingly asked for where family money has gone into a home.
A first meeting with a Barnet family solicitor is usually free or fixed-price; contested cases are billed by the hour.
Family law firms serving Barnet are listed below, verified firms first. For background read what family law covers and the general family law solicitors page; the divorce solicitors in Barnet page deals with the marriage itself, and family law solicitors in Haringey covers the borough next door.
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