She has milked the cows on her partner's family farm for twenty years, raised their children there and been told, more than once, that the place would one day be theirs. Nothing is in her name. When it ends, family law solicitors in Wells must explain that an unmarried partner has no claim on the farm as such, and then look for the claims she does have: a share of the home under trusts law if money or work went into it, provision for the children, and the promise itself, which can be enforced if she relied on it to her detriment. Farm promise cases are a real feature of family law in rural Somerset, and they are long and expensive, so a cohabitation agreement and a declaration of trust made in good times are worth every penny.
The more ordinary work is the same as anywhere, with the complication that Wells has no court. Children's arrangements are settled in mediation where possible, after the information meeting the court requires before most applications, and otherwise decided by the family court at Bath, Yeovil or Taunton, with Cafcass advising. Care proceedings are brought by Somerset Council, and parents facing them get legal aid whatever their means. Domestic abuse in an isolated farmhouse has a particular cruelty, and a solicitor can obtain a non-molestation or occupation order quickly, often with legal aid; distance to the nearest court does not slow that down.
Grandparents raising grandchildren, second marriages in retirement with the prenuptial agreements they bring, and the children of seasonal workers whose other parent is far away complete the picture. Most Wells firms offer a fixed-fee first appointment and charge hourly for contested work.
Family law solicitors serving Wells are listed below, verified firms first. Read what family law covers and the general family law solicitors guide, see divorce solicitors in Wells for the marriage itself, and the Bath family law page for firms nearer that court.
