A posting order arrives at Whittington Barracks, and a separated parent who has been seeing the children every weekend is told they will be in Cyprus by the spring. Family law solicitors in Lichfield deal with this more often than most, because the Defence Medical Services headquarters at Whittington brings service families into the city and takes them away again, and arrangements for children have to survive deployments, overseas postings and the pull of a grandparent's house in another county.
The law's starting point is the same for everyone. Parents are expected to try mediation, with a mediation information and assessment meeting before most applications, and a Lichfield solicitor will often help draft an agreement rather than issue proceedings. Where an application is unavoidable, the family court that serves south Staffordshire decides where the children live and how they see each parent, with Cafcass reporting on their welfare; relocation cases, where one parent wants to move abroad or far away, turn on the child's welfare and are rarely decided quickly.
Domestic abuse is not confined to poorer places. A non-molestation or occupation order can be in place within days, legal aid is available for it, and Lichfield firms work with the police and local support services on the applications. Care proceedings, brought by Staffordshire County Council, also attract legal aid regardless of means.
Lichfield's wealth raises questions elsewhere. Couples who live together without marrying in a house owned by one of them should have a cohabitation agreement or a declaration of trust, and prenuptial agreements are now common for second marriages where there are children and assets on both sides.
Most firms offer a fixed-fee first meeting and hourly rates thereafter.
The firms below take family cases in and around Lichfield, verified practices at the top. What family law covers is a good overview, the general family law solicitors page explains how a case is run, and the divorce solicitors in Lichfield page deals with the end of the marriage itself.
