A grandmother in Matson has had the children living with her for a year while their mother gets treatment, and she wants to know whether that can be made official. Family law solicitors in Gloucester hear that question often. The answer may be a child arrangements order, which gives her parental responsibility while the children live with her, or a special guardianship order, which gives her the stronger say that a long-term placement needs, and it may come with support from the county council's children's services if they have been involved. Kinship care of this kind is a large part of the city's family work.
Gloucestershire County Council also brings the care proceedings that the family court in Gloucester hears, and parents facing them are entitled to legal aid without any means test; a solicitor who does this work regularly will know the social workers, the guardians and the judges. The same court decides the arrangements between separated parents that mediation cannot settle, after the mediation information and assessment meeting that precedes most applications, and it makes the injunctions, non-molestation and occupation orders, that protect against domestic abuse, usually within days of the application.
Unmarried couples separating in Gloucester discover that the house follows the deeds rather than the relationship; a declaration of trust or cohabitation agreement at the start saves a trusts claim later. Distance matters too: a parent in Coleford or Cinderford whose former partner moves to Cheltenham is dealing with the Forest's roads as much as the law.
Many Gloucester firms offer a fixed-fee first appointment and hourly rates for contested hearings; legal aid remains for domestic abuse and care cases.
Family law firms serving Gloucester are listed below, verified ones first. Read what family law covers, the general family law solicitors guide, and for the divorce itself divorce solicitors in Gloucester.
