Going through a divorce or separation is one of the hardest things for anyone to do but one of the things is that everyone thinks that he or she knows his or her rights and the rights of all parties involved.
Regardless of any financial settlement, who gets child custody, the amount of child maintenance one must pay, or even the intricacies of the common-law partner, friends, family and colleagues will shower you with “useful” advice. However, divorce is extremely complicated and it is hard for all parties involved to feel that they have obtained an acceptable outcome without the help of an expert lawyer.
Even though there are many who have been through divorce themselves, each case is completely different. Therefore, a family law specialist must be obtained for advice as well as to assess the best approach for the particular circumstances.
Common in Law?
“Common law” is a phrase that is tossed around when speaking of unmarried couples. The misapprehension is that if there is a couple who have lived together for a certain amount of time, they are a common-law couple and have claims and entitlements to each other’s belongings. This is simply not true.
To be common-law, a couple must be legally married or enter a same-sex civil partnership. Only then can the union have any type of legal implications.
The one exception to this, of course, is if the couple were to draw up an agreement prior to the marriage or partnership. This would detail what each party has and how they would like to split it up in case of a separation. This type of agreement is becoming increasingly popular and helps to define who owns what and what happens to finances and parental responsibilities due to a separation.
Maintenance Myth
In the early 1990s, the Child Support Agency (CSA) was introduced to help deal with maintenance for children. Due to the CSA, courts are only able to make maintenance orders in very limited special cases when it comes to children. Such cases include when both parents wish to gain an order of consent that would include school fees, when a child is in full-time education, or even when there is a disabled child who has care costs.
When someone claims that his or her plans are to go to court for maintenance or “take them to the cleaners”, such a situation is very unlikely and they should seek out the experience of a family law specialist in Yorkshire.
It’s the CSA that deals with any types of payment to support the children. They look at the information given and make an assessment of what would be in the best interest of the child.
Those are just a couple of the main common myths that one hears, but there are many more out there that people believe but have no resemblance to any current law.
While some may have been true in the past, others may have never been right in the first place. Since the laws are always changing, the distinctions highlighted here may not even be true in the next couple of years. Obtain the help of a family law specialist when you need advice in these areas.
