Before almost any application about children or money can be made to the family court in Exeter, the person applying must have attended a mediation information and assessment meeting, and the judges at Southernhay Gardens expect to see that mediation has been genuinely tried. That rule shapes how family law solicitors in Exeter work: much of their effort goes into negotiating and mediating arrangements that are then written into a consent order, with court kept for the cases that genuinely need a decision.
Those cases have a Devon flavour. Parents dispute where a child should live when one of them wants to move from Exeter to London, or back to Devon from somewhere else. Royal Marines families at Lympstone and other service families deal with deployments and postings that make a fixed routine impossible. Grandparents, who often provide the childcare in a county where parents commute long distances, apply for contact when a relationship ends. Cafcass reports on the children's welfare, and the court can order supervised contact, assessments and, in the hardest cases, a change of residence.
Domestic abuse cases move faster. A solicitor can apply for a non-molestation order or an occupation order within days, often without notice to the other party, and legal aid is available for these applications and for parents facing care proceedings brought by Devon County Council. For unmarried couples, who have no automatic claim on each other's property, disputes about the house are decided under trust law rather than family law, which is why solicitors urge cohabiting buyers to sign a declaration of trust at the outset.
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements are increasingly common among Exeter's professionals and farming families, and are given real weight if properly prepared.
A free or fixed-fee first appointment is usual; contested hearings are charged by the hour.
The family law firms serving Exeter appear below, verified firms first. Read what family law covers, see the divorce solicitors in Exeter page, the general family law solicitors guide and the divorce process.
