Hounslow is one of the few London boroughs where family cases are heard at home. The West London Family Court in Feltham deals with children applications, financial disputes, non-molestation and occupation orders and care proceedings for the whole of west London, and family law solicitors in Hounslow treat it as their local court.
Heathrow shapes the work in a way outsiders rarely expect. A parent who fears that a child is about to be taken abroad needs a prohibited steps order and a port alert within hours, not days, and Hounslow solicitors are used to making that application the same day. The reverse happens too: a child brought into the country by one parent, and a left-behind parent abroad seeking a return. Families with relatives in India, Pakistan, Poland or Somalia raise questions about holidays, relocation and which country's courts should decide.
The ordinary caseload is the same as everywhere. Separated parents must normally attend a mediation information and assessment meeting before applying for a child arrangements order, and most disputes settle on terms a solicitor turns into a consent order; where they do not, Cafcass reports and the court decides. Domestic abuse injunctions are available quickly and attract legal aid, as do care proceedings brought by Hounslow Council, where parents are represented regardless of income. Unmarried couples sharing one of Chiswick's or Brentford's expensive rented flats, or a house bought in one name, should know that cohabitation gives few rights and that a cohabitation agreement or declaration of trust fixes that.
Prenuptial agreements are increasingly requested in Chiswick, usually where one partner owns property or a business.
Fees are generally fixed for a first meeting and for simple orders, and hourly for contested cases.
Family law firms covering Hounslow appear below, verified firms first. Read what family law covers, the general family law solicitors page and, for the divorce itself, divorce solicitors in Hounslow; the London family law page covers the capital.
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