He works two weeks on and two weeks off on a vessel servicing the wind farms, she works nights at Hull Royal Infirmary, and the "every other weekend" that family courts once handed out would mean he never sees the children at all. Family law solicitors in Hull spend a lot of time on arrangements like these, because the city's economy, from the port and the offshore industry to the hospitals and the caravan works, runs on shifts and rotas that the law has to accommodate.
The route is the same as everywhere. Parents must usually attend a mediation information and assessment meeting before applying to court, and most Hull cases settle in mediation or between solicitors. Those that do not go to the family court at the Combined Court Centre on Lowgate, which serves the city and the East Riding, with Cafcass reporting on the children's welfare.
Hull's children's services bring a steady number of care proceedings, and parents in those cases get legal aid whatever their income, from the pre-proceedings letter onwards. Grandparents and other relatives who step in, as many do here, need to know about special guardianship and the support that comes with it. Domestic abuse injunctions, non-molestation and occupation orders, can be obtained in days, and legal aid is available for them.
Couples who never married are the other large group. A house in Sutton or Gipsyville bought in one name, or in two names with unequal deposits, is divided under property law, which asks only who paid for what; a declaration of trust at purchase is the cheap fix. Prenuptial agreements are rare in Hull but not unknown.
A free or fixed-fee first meeting is usual, with hourly rates for contested hearings.
Family law firms serving Hull are listed below, verified ones first. Read what family law covers and the general family law solicitors guide, and for the divorce itself and the money see divorce solicitors in Hull; the East Riding search finds firms in Beverley and the villages.
