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    What do family solicitors handle?

    Family law is defined as a specialism in law and it certainly is, but it is a discipline of law that requires a broad knowledge and a great deal of experience. Family solicitors Emsworth have to deal with a wide variety of legal circumstances which could be relating to unmarried couples’ paternity issues. They would need to be able to handle disputes relating to divorce, domestic abuse, visitation rights and a variety of claims and counter-claims regarding adoptions and separations, to name but a few areas that fall into the description of family law. Briefly family law is broken down into three main categories, matrimonial law, legal rights of children and financial law. Offering legal advice and mediating between parties is a common everyday occurrence and requires a great deal of sensitivity, but firmness.

    Finding a suitable solicitor

    When trying to find a suitable solicitor to handle a family’s affairs it is important to remember that as in any relationship there must be a reciprocal feeling of being able to work together. Looking for family lawyers Red Deer (or wherever you’re based) is like creating a partnership where both parties will work equally as hard and take on board each other’s advice, concerns and emotions for the duration of their legal involvement. A relationship built on trust, respect and honesty are essential when it comes to legal matters and this is applicable to both parties. If the solicitor cannot trust that the information and events he is being given are factual, then he could opt out of being the chosen solicitor for a particular party.

    Knowledge and experience

    Family law is taught but the emotional and traumatic side of dealing in this type of law is a steep learning curve and requires years of exposure to gain the necessary experience to be able to deal with family disputes around finances, children and property. No two cases are the same and no two people are the same and it therefore takes a very astute solicitor to be able to steer his client through the legal maze relating to their particular circumstances.

    Marriage breakdown and disputes

    One of the most common areas of family law that family solicitors have to deal with is marriage breakdown and the resulting disputes. Marriage breakdowns go through a range of phases depending on the parties involved and if there are any children. Normally there is the acrimonious stage where both parties are at loggerheads and it takes a skilful solicitor to try and restore some sort of order so that a resolution can be found. This may be the stage where separation is the best option or it may rapidly advance to divorce and all the implications that carries. Finances normally rapidly become an issue and an accomplished solicitor will try and move the parties quickly to a period of reflection so that they can consider the consequences for all concerned. The family law act of 1996 was designed to modernise the matrimonial causes act of 1973 and to relieve the acrimony caused by certain aspects of family law. This has been achieved to some degree, but it still requires the knowledge and experience of a family solicitor to find the correct path through the passages of the law.