Grandparents raising grandchildren, grandparents cut off from grandchildren after a separation, grandparents asked to pay for everything: in a borough with Havering's age profile, family law solicitors see the older generation in the waiting room as often as the younger one. A grandparent looking after a child long-term may need a special guardianship order or a child arrangements order to have any standing at the school or the GP; one excluded after a divorce needs the court's permission before applying for contact at all, and a solicitor to make the case.
The parents' own cases follow the national pattern. A mediation information and assessment meeting comes before most applications about children or money, and many Havering families settle in mediation or between solicitors, recording the outcome in a consent order. Contested cases are heard at the family court in Romford, where Cafcass reports on the children's welfare, and the questions are the usual ones: where the children live, how holidays and weekends are shared, whether a parent can move to Essex or further for a new job.
Domestic abuse cases are dealt with quickly, through non-molestation and occupation orders for which legal aid remains available; Havering Council's care proceedings carry legal aid for the parents regardless of income. Unmarried partners, a growing group among younger couples in Harold Hill and Rainham, find on separation that they have no claim to maintenance and no automatic share of a home in the other's name; cohabitation agreements and declarations of trust are worth making while the relationship is good. Prenuptial agreements are popular with older couples marrying again who want to protect what their children expect to inherit.
Most firms offer a fixed-fee first meeting; contested work is charged hourly.
Family law firms serving Havering appear below, verified first. Read what family law covers, see the general family law solicitors page and divorce solicitors in Havering, and for firms nearer central London the London family law page.
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