Family Law Case Wins

Due to the very private and personal nature of family law, we cannot provide details of previous case wins. Please however see what our clients say about us and what others say about us.

It is often said that 'there are no winners and losers in divorce'. That is not always true:

Before you can have any idea of what amounts to winning or losing, you need the best legal advice at the outset. All of our family lawyers are trained to give clear and accurate legal advice so that all clients have realistic expectations and goals in their divorce or family law dispute.
The best way to 'win' at divorce is to achieve a quick settlement and therefore avoid the stress and potential high cost of court proceedings in resolving financial disputes.
If a quick settlement cannot be achieved, our family lawyers are experts at dealing with court proceedings and guiding clients through the process. Our strong links with leading family law barristers, forensic accountants, surveyors and other experts ensure that we are able to assemble the best possible team for a family law dispute.
In the rare cases where a settlement cannot be achieved and a final court hearing is required, in virtually every divorce we will achieve a settlement that will accord with the specialist advice that has been given.

We cannot provide details of any of our clients' personal affairs. Client confidentiality is of paramount importance when dealing with personal family issues. The following case studies are however intended to give an illustration of the sort of work that we do. They are not based on actual cases, but rather common situations that we experience.

Case Study 1

We acted for a housewife who was 46. She had been married to her husband for 17 years. The couple were very wealthy. They had two children aged 13 and 10. Her husband was a company director and was a high earner. A decision had been made early on during the course of the marriage and that our client would be the home maker and her husband the breadwinner. Our client worked part time in a school close the family home as her hours of work enabled her to care for the children.

Our client wanted the divorce to be as amicable as possible. There were no issues in respect of her husband seeing the children. Our client however had concerns in respect of her future security and also in respect of understanding her husband’s business dealings. We were able to assist the wife in achieving her goals so that she had an ongoing relationship with her husband in respect of the care of the children. She also received a significant share of the matrimonial assets to re-house herself to a good standard and ongoing maintenance to provide future security.

Case Study 2

We acted for a husband in his early thirties. Both husband and wife were professionals. They had no children and had only been married for two years. The husband brought significant capital to the marriage. The couple ordered their finances such that they each contributed equally towards all household outgoings. The couple had not cohabited prior to marrying.

Husband was concerned that he would lose our financially in any divorce settlement by getting divorced. He wanted to bring about a swift conclusion to matters and was concerned as to the costs and how long the process would take.

We were able to assist the husband in achieving his aims. In view of the wife’s contributions to the marriage when the parties were together, she was awarded 25% of the capital. The husband retained the remainder of his capital. There were no maintenance payments made. The husband therefore secured the clean break he sought and proceedings were concluded swiftly.

Case Study 3

Pannone were approached by a man in his 40’s. The man had entered in a Civil Partnership with his long term partner 18 months before. Prior to that they had lived together for 10 years. They jointly owned a property but otherwise had kept their financial arrangements separate.

In this case, they both had good incomes and neither of them would need support from the other going forwards.

As a result of the Civil Partnership Act, same sex partners who have entered into a Civil Partnership now have the same financial claims against one another as heterosexual married couples. In addition, the same factors such as age, contributions and needs are all considered when the Court is deciding what should be the appropriate outcome. In this instance, both parties were in an equal position and an agreement was quickly reached that the property would be sold, the proceeds of sale divided between them equally, and a clean break meaning that neither one had any financial claim against the other in the future.

As with heterosexual couples, most Civil Partnership cases are unlikely to be as straightforward as this. It is therefore important that same sex couples take legal advice before reaching an agreement following the breakdown of their relationship.

Case Study 4

Pannone acted for a successful professional woman who had separated from her partner – a medical professional. They were unable to agree a contact routine in relation to their child (aged 7).

Our client was very successful and had a demanding job. She had, however, managed to negotiate a flexible arrangement with her employer which could fit around the child’s needs. Conversely, her partner, although having a less demanding job, did not have the same degree of flexibility. He did, however, have some scope for being able to finish work earlier on occasions.

Initially, the father had sought an equal division of time. This had been the routine immediately following the breakdown of the relationship but it had been clear that the child did not react well to this.

There was a large degree of goodwill between the parties and they attended mediation in an effort to reach an agreement. Pannone acted alongside the mediation process providing support and advice to the mother in respect of what the outcome of legal proceedings would be if the mediation process failed.

Fortunately, the parties were able to reach an agreement and this was endorsed by a Court Order.

In many cases, an agreement is not always achievable in the mediation process and it is necessary for there to be contested Children Act Proceedings. Pannone’s team are experts in representing clients in these proceedings but always initially propose a conciliatory approach (for example through mediation) where appropriate.

Call 0844 980 1428 for a consultation with a Family Law Solicitor or a Divorce Lawyer or send us an email. We are available to take your call twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.