Divorce and family law

If you are planning cohabitation, marriage or a civil partnership, you should consider potential legal issues if one of you dies or you separate.

Concerns about finances can make divorce even more stressful. Aim to negotiate a divorce settlement that provides for each of you and any dependents.

The best sources of help for relationship breakdown and divorce advice

What is involved in the divorce process, what you can agree between yourselves and when to involve solicitors and the Family Court

What you need to know about divorce and children, including child custody and child maintenance

An introduction to the legal rights and responsibilities arising from cohabitation and from civil partnerships

How moving in together affects your legal position. The rights and responsibilities of cohabiting couples and what happens if the relationship ends

Divorce and children – answers to the most common questions about parents’ rights, childcare arrangements and child maintenance payments

Divorce glossary explaining divorce and family law terms in simple English to help you understand the legal jargon used by divorce lawyers

How to apply for a financial order when you and your partner have failed to agree a divorce financial settlement between yourselves

Agreeing the arrangements for your children: how child custody is decided, what rights the non-resident parent has and getting a court order

Key issues for cohabiting partners, including using a cohabitation agreement to protect yourselves, what to cover and whether it will be enforceable

Divorce FAQs - your questions answered from what you need to prove to get a divorce to how the divorce process works

Divorce settlement FAQs – your questions answered from when to agree a financial settlement to agreeing maintenance payments and sharing out assets

When child maintenance is payable, how much child maintenance should be, making child maintenance arrangements and how to enforce payment

How to register a civil partnership, financial affairs and children for civil partners, and how a civil partnership can be brought to an end

Nobody wants to pay unnecessary legal fees, but you also need to ask yourself whether getting divorced without using a lawyer would risk causing serious problems

Understanding when spousal maintenance should be part of a divorce financial settlement. How much, for how long, and when it can be changed

This calculator can help you work out how much child maintenance you might be liable to pay if you separate and have children to provide for

How to use a consent order to make a divorce settlement legally binding. What to include, the court application and whether you can change it later

How to get the right advice from your divorce lawyer without unnecessary cost: being organised and patient, compromising and managing your emotions

Information your divorce lawyer will need; a checklist to help you prepare

Who has parental responsibility, how to get a parental responsibility agreement or order, and financial responsibility for step-children

Where to get free legal advice to help you with divorce and family law – and the pitfalls to look out for

Whether you need a prenuptial agreement, what to cover, how to prepare your prenup and what effect a prenup has if you do get divorced

How the Child Maintenance Service works out and helps collect maintenance payments, and what is happening to old Child Support Agency cases

When DIY divorce is a realistic option; how to deal with the divorce itself, finances and children; and what help you can get if you need it

Organise your finances in the event of your separation or divorce

How to use family mediation to help you reach agreement with your partner or ex-partner over children, finances or other key issues

Common relationship problems, what you can expect from marriage guidance and other sources of relationship advice, and where to find the help you need

The differences between marriage annulment and divorce: ‘void’ and ‘voidable’ marriages and how to apply for a decree of nullity

The most common divorce forms used for the divorce, financial settlements and childcare arrangements – what they are and where to find them

Divorce costs explained: family court fees, mediation and legal costs, who pays the divorce costs and what help may be available towards your costs

The differences between separation, judicial separation and divorce, using a separation agreement and when you might need legal advice

Key stages in the divorce process, from the initial divorce application through to the final order that ends the marriage

Mediation information and assessment meetings: when they are needed in childcare and financial arrangements disputes and what is involved