What happens to the children when a parent's posting ends? Westminster's embassies, the Foreign Office and Mayfair's international businesses mean family law solicitors here deal more often than most with a parent who wants to take a child abroad, one who fears the other will, and the Hague Convention applications that follow a child already gone. Relocation needs either the other parent's consent or a court order, and the Family Division at the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand hears the urgent cases.
Most of the borough's family work is closer to home. Westminster City Council brings care proceedings over children in Church Street, Westbourne and Pimlico, and parents in those cases get legal aid whatever their income. Domestic abuse produces non-molestation and occupation orders, which the Central Family Court in Holborn can grant within days, sometimes without notice to the other party, again with legal aid. Children's arrangements after separation, financial claims for the children of unmarried parents and disputes between cohabiting flat owners make up the rest.
A mediation information and assessment meeting comes before most children or finance applications, and a good solicitor will say honestly whether mediation, round-table negotiation or arbitration would beat a hearing. Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements are asked for by Westminster couples with family money, inherited property or a business, and carry real weight when both sides had advice and full disclosure.
Cohabiting couples should know that English law gives them no automatic claim on each other's property; a declaration of trust when a flat is bought prevents most later disputes.
Contested work is usually hourly, with fixed fees for agreements and a free or low-cost first meeting at many firms.
Family law firms serving Westminster are listed below, verified firms first. Read what family law covers, the general family law solicitors guide, divorce solicitors in Westminster for the divorce itself and family law solicitors in London for the wider capital.
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