A grandmother in Hemsworth has been bringing up her grandson for three years while his parents struggle, and the school, the GP and the benefits office all want to know what legal right she has to make decisions for him. The answer is a special guardianship or child arrangements order, and applications like hers are a large part of what family law solicitors in Wakefield do: kinship care, grandparents' contact, and the care proceedings the council brings when a child cannot safely stay at home. Parents in those proceedings get legal aid whatever they earn, and the solicitor's job is as much about working with social workers as arguing in court.
The ordinary separation work sits alongside it. Parents who cannot agree where the children live or how much time they spend with each parent must normally attend a mediation information and assessment meeting before applying to the family court; where an application is needed it is heard locally, with Cafcass advising on the child's welfare. Unmarried couples, common in the former mining towns, separate under property law rather than divorce law, and the partner whose name is not on the deeds in Castleford or South Elmsall is often shocked by how little that leaves them. A declaration of trust at the time of purchase prevents the problem.
Domestic abuse injunctions, non-molestation and occupation orders, can be obtained within days and remain within the scope of legal aid. Wakefield solicitors also deal with prenuptial agreements for second marriages and with the arrangements that follow a divorce; the divorce solicitors in Wakefield page covers that.
Fees are fixed for straightforward applications and charged hourly for contested hearings, and many Wakefield firms offer a free first meeting.
Family solicitors across the Wakefield district are listed below this guide, verified firms first. Read what family law covers, the general family law solicitors page and, over the county line, family law solicitors in Doncaster.
