The government has announced that it will increase one-hundred and seventy two court and tribunal fees by 10% in May 2024, court fees having increased previously in 2016 and 2021. The increase this time comes following a government consultation paper which...
The following case analyses have been produced by Shaili Gohil-Desai of Burgess Mee in partnership with LexisNexis : Securing legal parenthood following a surrogacy arrangement (E v R and others) (lexis.com) The use of human...
An amended version of this article was first published on Today's Family Lawyer on 24 January 2024. Eye-watering delays, hearings vacated at the 11 th hour due to “ judicial unavailability ” and cases transferred out to...
The push for cohabitation reform continues - but how can you protect yourself today? In 2022, 22.7% of couples living together were not married or registered in a civil partnership [1]. A nationwide poll has shown that there is a significant...
Mediation has traditionally involved one mediator working with two clients to try to reach solutions. Over time, it has become clear that the flexible nature of mediation can be utilised to benefit a wider range of people, with an even broader range of...
Do I need to provide financial disclosure as part of any mediation and if so, what does that look like? As part of our series of articles for Mediation Week, today we are looking at the issue of disclosure when addressing the financial aspect of a...
Sometimes it is not possible to reach a compromise position with just two clients and one (or two!) mediators. In situations like this, or where perhaps one of the parties feels ill-equipped to mediate without support, mediation can be supported by lawyers....
First published on FTAdviser on 22 January 2024 Whether a party will be ordered to pay or receive spousal maintenance is often one of the first questions a client will ask. What is maintenance? The court’s power to order periodical payments...
Welcome to Mediation Week! As part of Mediation Week we will be posting an article every day to provide more information about this form of alternate dispute resolution. Burgess Mee has a significant ADR offering and five trained mediators – Kirsty...
Antonia Mee comments in ‘How adultery affects divorce, according to the experts’, published by Tatler on 12 January 2024. Click here to read the article....
First published on ThoughtLeaders4 HNW Divorce on 12 January 2024. When a couple get divorced, one of the first questions that may spring to mind is “Who will get what?” For family lawyers who specialise in financial remedies,...
First published on FTAdviser on 8 January 2024. On divorce, even if a couple wishes to settle their finances by agreement, it is important to know how a court would divide their finances. This is because all financial settlements on divorce are...
Burgess Mee Family Law is pleased to announce the appointment of private client lawyer, Georgina Crane , as a legal director. She was previously a senior associate at London law firm, EMW LLP. Georgina will focus on expanding Burgess Mee’s...
First published on Today’s Family Lawyer on 10 November 2023. There’s been a lot going on in the world of fertility and modern families in the last few months and even more exciting developments are on the horizon. Partner and...
We are used to people oversharing on social media but if you are not “that” person, the thought of telling friends and family that your relationship has come to an end can be daunting. Everyone will have your best interests at heart, but the idea...
While it is absolutely too early to put up your Christmas decorations it’s not too early to think about agreeing the arrangements for your children over the festive season. Christmas can be a stressful period for parents at the best of times and it can...
Burgess Mee is pleased to have been commended for family law in The Times Best Law Firms 2024 – a list of the top 250 legal practices in England, Wales and Scotland, which was voted for by lawyers. The firm has been included in the guide since its...
It was announced two weeks ago by Labour MP Emily Thornberry that a Labour government would reform the law as it relates to cohabiting couples, something that has previously been rejected by the current government. With marriage rates falling to the lowest...
Burgess Mee Family Law is pleased to have been ranked once again as a leading law firm in the 2024 edition of Chambers UK , a definitive mark of excellence across the legal industry. The firm is recommended in Band 1 in the newly introduced...
Burgess Mee is delighted to have once again been named as one of the 2023 eprivateclient Top Family Law Firms - a comprehensive analysis of the leading law firms providing family law advice in the UK. This accolade is the result of an extensive survey of...
What is the child maintenance service (CMS)? The CMS is a product of and is governed by the Department for Work and Pensions. It works out, collects, and pays out child maintenance on behalf of a parent (‘the receiving parent’) who cares for...
Burgess Mee Advises Angela Jilina in Landmark Court of Appeal Win Regarding Duration of Marriage and Recission of Decree Nisi The Court of Appeal has today confirmed its reversal of the High Court’s ruling in the case between Olga Cazalet (known...
It is being reported in the press that Kevin Costner and his former wife’s divorce settlement has been decided by a judge in Santa Barbara. Reports say that the judge decided that they should be held to the terms of their prenuptial agreement which was...
Antonia Mee has been published in Spear's Magazine as she delves into the world of international child arrangements, illuminated by the recent separation announcement of Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner, a celebrity couple rooted in different home...
First published on Solicitors Journal on 5 September 2023 - Costs and conduct in financial remedy cases Leora Taratula-Lyons examines recent case law on how costs are awarded in financial remedy proceedings following divorce. Costs and conduct are more...
Burgess Mee Family Law is pleased to announce that Charlotte Ballard Scott has joined the firm as a Consultant. Charlotte was a partner in the family department at Kingsley Napley LLP until 2007, focusing on both financial and children work, before taking...
First published on FTAdviser on 10 August 2023 - Prenups: how well will they hold up in court? Earlier this year, judgment was handed down in the case of MN v AN [2023] EWHC 613 (Fam) by Moor J, which involved a dispute between a husband (aged...
More than a year on from the introduction of no-fault divorce in England and Wales, many divorcing parties are now aware that there is no longer a need to assign blame to one person for the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage. However, misconceptions...
With many family lawyers now returning from summer holidays, the first lengthy statement drafted after vacation may have made you realise that your desk set-up is overdue for an upgrade. If that sounds like you, check out David Lillywhite ’s latest...
What is without prejudice privilege? Without prejudice privilege, commonly referred to by its initials, ‘WP’, is the privilege applied to communications where the contents represent a ‘ genuine attempt to reach a settlement ’ [1]...
Reform of UK divorce law – can England and Wales learn from Scotland? As the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 reaches its 50th anniversary, there has been debate as to whether this legislation remains fit for purpose. Lord Bellamy KC has...
In 2007, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 introduced Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs), which replaced the old Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs). EPAs only allowed decisions to be made by an attorney on financial matters and to make decisions once a donor had...
Burgess Mee Family Law is proud to have been included in the esteemed 2023 Spear's Family Law Index - an exclusive listing of the top professionals working in family law, divorce support, and litigation funding for high-net-worth (HNW) and...
First published on Today's Family Lawyer on 5 April 2023 - Building families through surrogacy: A new law The Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission, on the 29th March, released their report and draft bill detailing a...
Natalie Sutherland Named Woman of the Year at Women and Diversity in Law Awards Natalie Sutherland, partner at Burgess Mee Family Law, has been named Woman of the Year at the inaugural Women and Diversity in Law Awards . Hosted by The Global Legal Post,...
The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2020 will come into effect today, 27 February 2023. The Act raises the minimum age requirement for marriage to 18 in all circumstances. Previously, 16 and 17 year olds were able to marry if they had...
Burgess Mee Family Law is pleased to announce the appointment of Emma Morris as a Legal Director. Emma, who has joined Burgess Mee from Ince (formally Gordon Dadds) will focus on high net worth matters, financial settlements and complex children work. She...
First published on LexisNexis’ family law blog on 24 February 2023 - Posthumous grandchildren? The floodgates remain closed In Re X (Catastrophic Injury: Collection and Storage of Sperm) [2022] EWCOP 48, Poole J, sitting in the Court of...
First published by FTAdviser on 31 January 2023. According to recent data from the Ministry of Justice, 33,566 applications for divorce were made between April and June 2022, the highest rate for a decade. Whether a short-term spike following the...
First published by FTAdviser on 10 January 2023. With the UK spending much of the past few years in a ‘permacrisis’ (and with no sign that this will change any time soon), many individuals will have approached the holiday break as an...
First published by workingmums on 15.12.2022. Written by Shyamantha Asokan . Burgess Mee, a family law firm in London, became the UK’s first accredited “fertility-friendly employer” last month. But what does this term...
Burgess Mee Named London Law Firm of the Year at LexisNexis Family Law Awards 2022 Burgess Mee is delighted to have been named Family Law Firm of the Year: London at the LexisNexis Family Law Awards 2022, which took place last night at the Park Plaza...
6 October 2022 Judgment in SA vs FA is highly significant for divorcing UAE-based expats Burgess Mee Family Law has advised on a reported precedent-setting forum case that impacts divorcing expats based in the UAE (see link to judgment , which has...
First published by Solicitors Journal on 12 September 2022. On 6 April 2022, divorce law in England and Wales changed for the first time in 50 years with the introduction of “no-fault divorce”. This long-awaited change has been enacted...
First published by Today’s Family Lawyer on 8 th September Mining on the moon: The Luna-cy of crypto costs in matrimonial financial proceedings The pandemic-driven explosion of interest in crypto currencies has led the family courts in...
Burgess Mee is pleased to announce Leora Taratula-Lyons' promotion to Associate. Leora joined Burgess Mee in November 2020 and advises on a wide range of family law issues, including divorce and private children law cases - High net worth...
On 7 July 2022, Burgess Mee’s own Natalie Sutherland and CEO and Founder of Mimoza Fleur, Somaya Ouazzani, hosted In/Fertility in the City: Part 2 to a packed room of 120 people in Stephenson Harwood’s offices in London. This followed an...
The Government has proposed a change of rules applying to the transfer of assets between spouses and civil partners who are separating. The proposed changes ensure fairer tax rules that give spouses more time to transfer assets between one another without...
X v Z (Parental Order Adult) [2022] EWFC 26 In our third and final blog in the National Surrogacy Week ( https://surrogacyweek.co.uk/ ) series, we look at the first ever Parental Order that was made in respect of a surrogate born child who is now an...
H v United Kingdom In our second blog in the National Surrogacy Week ( https://surrogacyweek.co.uk/ ) series, we look at a European Court of Human Rights case which involved a young girl born through surrogacy. She took the UK Government to Strasbourg...
