Grandparents raising their grandchildren are a familiar part of a family law solicitor's work in Lancaster. Sometimes it is an informal arrangement that has gone on for years and needs a court order to make school and medical decisions possible; sometimes the local authority is involved and the grandparents want special guardianship rather than see the child go into care; and sometimes a parent returns and wants the child back. Each is a different application, and the first meeting is usually spent working out which.
Ordinary separations make up the rest. Parents who cannot agree where a child lives and how time is shared are expected to try mediation first, after an information and assessment meeting, and the family court in Lancaster hears the cases that cannot be settled, with Cafcass advising on welfare. Care proceedings brought by Lancashire County Council for children in the district are also heard locally, and parents facing them have legal aid whatever their means. A university city adds its own patterns: couples separating while one finishes a degree, a parent who wants to move across the country for work, and international families where one parent may want to take a child home.
Domestic abuse is dealt with urgently. Non-molestation and occupation orders can be obtained within days, with legal aid available. Cohabiting couples, whom the law barely protects on separation, should sign a declaration of trust or cohabitation agreement when they buy; farming families in the Lune Valley ask for prenuptial agreements before the farm passes to a son or daughter who is about to marry.
Expect a free or fixed-fee first appointment in Lancaster, fixed prices for simple applications and hourly billing for anything contested.
Family solicitors for Lancaster and Morecambe are ranked below, verified first. Read what family law covers first; the general family law solicitors page explains how firms charge; the divorce and the money are covered by divorce solicitors in Lancaster; and the Lancashire search finds firms further south.
