A soldier at Imphal Barracks is posted to Germany, his ex-partner in Acomb says the children are staying in York, and both of them need advice within the week. Military families, academics on fixed-term contracts and railway staff who move with the job make relocation disputes a recurring theme for family law solicitors in York, and the question is always the same: what arrangement serves the children, and can the parents agree it without a judge.
Usually they can. Before either applies to the family court about children or money they must normally attend a mediation information and assessment meeting, and York solicitors use mediation, collaborative law and round-table meetings as a matter of course. Where an order is needed, the application goes to the family court in York, with Cafcass reporting on the children's welfare, and the court's own expectation is that parents will have tried everything else first.
Other work is more urgent. Non-molestation and occupation orders for victims of domestic abuse can be obtained within days and remain within the scope of legal aid, as do care proceedings, where parents are entitled to representation whatever their means. Cohabiting couples, of whom York's student and young professional population produces many, separate under property and trust law rather than divorce law, and a declaration of trust signed when buying a house in Holgate or Heworth avoids a painful argument later. Prenuptial agreements, often for second marriages where there is a house or an inheritance to protect, are drafted carefully so that a court will uphold them.
Fees in York are fixed for straightforward applications and hourly for contested hearings; most firms offer a free or low-cost first meeting.
Family law solicitors in York are listed after this guide, verified firms first. Read what family law covers, the general family law solicitors page, divorce solicitors in York and, for the wider county, family solicitors in Ripon.
