You may have heard about a legal challenge brought by the campaign group Rights of Women regarding the domestic abuse evidence that needs to be provided to be able to get legal aid for family matters. They sought to challenge the lawfulness of the Government’s new rules, mainly based on the fact that it was limiting victims of abuse accessing legal aid.
Unfortunately, their case was not successful and the Court did not consider that it was unlawful.
Whilst this is not great news, we need to be practical about the situation we are in and look at what we can do rather than what we can’t.
Since the cuts were imposed we have worked tirelessly to ensure that we have understood the regulations to within an inch of their lives so that we can make the most of them and open it up to as many people as possible.
We are very successful at securing legal aid for victims of domestic abuse, despite the hurdles that the Government have tried to put in the way.
If you are working with someone who needs legal advice, let us know. Even if another solicitor has said legal aid is not available, there may be another way – it can’t hurt to ask, right? I will leave you with two things to remember:
- You don’t need evidence of abuse to obtain a protective order (injunction, non-molestation order, occupation order, protection from harassment)
- Legal aid is still available for family matters - Domestic abuse is far and wide, and it is possible in most cases to obtain evidence to support this.
Any questions – please get in touch – 023 9249 2967
Pensions on divorce – what are you entitled to?
When people separate, they are often overwhelmed by so many decisions that they have to make. Where will we live? Who will look after the children? Who is going to sort out the debts? So often, the day to day problems take precedence. These decisions are important, but something that can often be overlooked is pensions.
Pensions are complicated, and people often don’t even know if they have one, let alone if their (former) partner has one. And even if someone knows they do have a pension, how do you know its value or even what the numbers mean?
Pensions often do not become of particular interest until you’re approaching retirement but for a pension to provide an income it needs to be set up and paid in to for a substantial number of years first. So, even a small pension now (if you’re, say, aged between 30-50 years old) may have some considerable value upon retirement.
So what are the things to consider? Here are a few questions consider if you are separating and maybe have not considered your financial position yet:
- Have you or your (former) partner ever paid into a pension?
- Have you or your (former) partner ever had an employee pension through work?
- In particular, have either of you ever worked in the public sector (armed forces, emergency services, civil service, teaching)? If so, it’s likely there is a pension pot somewhere?
- Do you know what your state pension entitlement is?
What next? See what information can be gathered about the pension(s). Most companies send out a statement every now and again. Or have a look through old employment records or paperwork which may have details of any scheme you have paid in to. Lastly, get a state pension forecast to see what you’re entitled to. You can do this here: https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-statement
The more information available, the better; the next steps are to then take some advice. For pensions to be divided or changed, the pension company require a court order. Pensions also need to be looked at as part of the overall picture of a financial settlement and cannot be considered in isolation.
So, although there are lots more pressing matters to look at on separation, a pension is for future security and cannot be ignored. It’s complicated and sometimes confusing, but we can help with this and explain the options available in plain English.
Also, don’t forget, it is often possible to reach an out of court agreement and we will do everything we can to help you reach a settlement without having to attend Court.