If you are separating or recently separated from your partner, you will need to agree how you will divide your assets and responsibilities for any children you may have together.

It is normal to have different views on what is fair when you get divorced. This does not mean you have to go to court. There are several methods of alternative dispute resolution available, the most popular of which is currently mediation.

Mediation is designed to help you resolve issues and reach agreements between you, so you can decide where you are willing to compromise rather than having decisions made for you by a third party.  If you can demonstrate a level of respect and understanding of each other’s needs when you separate, it can make a real difference to the nature of your relationship moving forward.  This can be important for parents who will remain in each other’s lives through their children. 

Allard Bailey is supporting Resolution’s Good Divorce Week to show why the Government must support better advice for separating families.

Exclusive research from Resolution highlights the human suffering and cost caused by family court delays.

Good Divorce Week (28 Nov – 2 Dec) is an annual awareness campaign run by Resolution, an organisation that represents family professionals and helps people find a better, more constructive way to divorce.

For more than 30 years, The Legal 500 has benchmarked law firms around the world through an annual research programme.

Its findings are published every year to highlight the practices that provide the most cutting edge and innovative advice.

The United Kingdom’s 2023 edition has been launched and we are delighted to have moved up the rankings in Family Law.

This independent endorsement is a reflection of the expertise of our family solicitors and the consistent results they deliver for clients with complex family law issues; as well as our deep rooted commitment to client service.

We are pleased to announce the promotion of two senior family solicitors to the position of Partner.

Pictured with the rest of the senior legal team, Jennifer Granby and Louise Poulton's promotions bring the number of family partners to five.

(From left to right: Siobhan Lomasney - Partner, Louise Poulton - Partner, Sabrina Bailey - Managing Partner, Louise Allard - Managing Partner, Jennifer Granby - Partner.)

We welcome Siobhan Lomasney as a Partner in our Legal 500 ranked family law team.

Siobhan has had a distinguished career, acting for high-net-worth and high-profile individuals, their families and partners. She has been recognised in Legal 500 for her “excellent client engagement”.

Siobhan's family law expertise includes divorce and the dissolution of civil partnerships, matrimonial finance claims, complex children law matters and disputes between unmarried couples.

She is also a skilled litigator with extensive knowledge of civil fraud recovery, including international freezing orders. Her expertise includes challenging wills and helping clients to make claims against high-value estates.

Allard Bailey Family Law is offering a free guide to families who are divorcing or separating.

The Parenting Through Separation Guide is written by family professionals and advises parents of how to put their children first during a separation.

The guide is launched during Good Divorce Week which runs from 29 Nov - 3 Dec, run by national family justice organisation Resolution.

This year the focus of Good Divorce Week is parenting through separation.

Allard Bailey Family Law has been recommended by The Legal 500 for its expertise in Family Law for the third year running. This endorsement is reflective of the quality of our team, the service they deliver and the complexity of the cases they undertake. It is a notable achievement for a boutique firm in the competitive London market.

The Legal 500 has been analysing and comparing the capabilities of law firms across the world for more than 30 years. Its research team assesses the strengths of law firms in over 150 jurisdictions, highlighting the practice area teams who are providing the most cutting edge and innovative advice. We are delighted to be among them.

What better way to start the new year than with a new member of the team.

Allard Bailey Family Law welcomes Jennifer Granby to its busy family law team.

Jennifer, who joins as a Senior Consultant Solicitor, was previously a Director at a boutique family law firm in London.

She has significant experience advising on family law matters including divorce, financial relief, nuptial agreements, unmarried families, children disputes and domestic abuse.

Broadcaster and author Stephen Fry has voiced a video, produced by Allard Bailey Family Law, to help challenge stigma toward LGBT families.  The nine-minute film draws on independent research from the UK, United States, the Netherlands and Australia* that shows children raised by same-sex parents usually outperform others academically.

Stephen Fry says in the video that “stigma” is the one big disadvantage of same sex families:

“As medical advances enable more people to have biological children, adoption is declining among traditional families. At the same time there is a rise in adoption among same sex parents, who also adopt more of the children considered difficult to place, such as those with health problems, older children and siblings who should stay together. These children would otherwise face a very difficult future in care.”

Joint Managing Partners, Louise Allard and Sabrina Bailey, are delighted the firm has again been recommended by The Legal 500, which is widely regarded as the leading legal directory in the world. In its own words, The Legal 500’s rankings highlight ‘the practice area teams who are providing the most cutting edge and innovative advice’.

The Legal 500 includes the following information about the Family Law practice:

“Allard Bailey Family Law advises on all areas of family law, with a particular emphasis on complex financial proceedings where there are cross-jurisdictional issues, company assets and trusts structures. It is also skilled at advising on children law cases such as international relocation, child abduction and contact disputes, as well as surrogacy and adoption matters. The group is also recommended for its advice on LGBT family issues under the leadership of Louise Allard and Sabrina Bailey.”

As a firm that prides itself on guiding entrepreneurs in their personal legal matters, Allard Bailey Family Law is proud to partner with Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

Learn more at www.greatbritishentrepreneurawards.com

Started in 2012 to celebrate, champion and support enterprising minds in Great Britain, the Great British Entrepreneur Awards is more than an awards programme.  It is a community that supports one another, recognises successes and makes connections to enable Great British entrepreneurs and businesses to thrive.  We are proud to be part of that community.

Effective technology solutions and modern working practices are key to our ethos of delivering a first rate, flexible service whilst keeping client costs down.

The Zylpha bundling platform has proven to be a natural addition as it brings increased flexibility to our team and cost savings to our clients.

Zylpha enables us to construct bundles more quickly and easily.  A bundle is a folder of documents provided to the court before a hearing, which contains all of the documents the court may need for that hearing.

Until recently, Counsel required bundles to be given to them in hard copy, but electronic files are becoming more acceptable and this technology puts us at the cutting edge. 

You can read more at www.zylpha.com.

Allard Bailey Family Law has launched a new Private Wealth, Wills & Estates service for individuals and families.

With the hire of Sangeeta Rabadia, the firm can now assist clients with drafting wills, succession and inheritance tax planning, power of attorney, probate and administration of estates, as well as disputes regarding wills, trusts and estates.

Louise Allard, Joint Managing Partner of Allard Bailey Family Law:

"As a firm, we help people through the best and worst times of their lives, which can have a huge impact on their personal estate.

We are therefore excited to welcome Sangeeta, who brings extensive experience in private wealth planning and disputes, to assist our clients in preparing for their new future with compassion and sensitivity."

Family law issues are stressful enough without adding health concerns and temporary working arrangements to the mix.

You can rest assured that we employ modern technology and working practices all year round, so COVID-19 will not disrupt the service you receive from our team.

Whether you are based in UK or overseas, appointments are always available via Skype, video call and on the telephone, at a time that suits you.

Whatever your schedule and commitments, our team of lawyers is ready to provide bespoke legal advice tailored to your situation.

Louise Allard and Sabrina Bailey (pictured with Senior Consultant Solicitor Louise Poulton) are delighted that the firm has been recognised for its expertise in Family law by The Legal 500.

The Legal 500 is widely regarded as the leading legal directory in the world and has been analysing the capabilities of law firms throughout the world for more than 30 years.

Its rankings and recommendations are based on a series of criteria, but simply put in its own words The Legal 500 highlights 'the practice area teams who are providing the most cutting edge and innovative advice'.

At Allard Bailey Family Law, we believe in access to justice.  That is why we will be joining The London Legal Walk on the evening of 17th June 2019 and walking 10k through London.

We will be raising money for London Legal Support Network, which supports over 100 organisations to provide free and pro bono advice to vulnerable people in London and the South East, including:

- Victims of human trafficking and labour exploitation
- People who have been unfairly dismissed or discriminated against at work
- Elderly people who need support to live independently
- Those living with disabilities and their carers
- Homeless people and families living in terrible conditions.

Allard Bailey Family Law is one of the first UK law firms to adopt Settify, an online platform that uses artificial intelligence to interact with clients in real time.

Settify allows clients to outline their matter and provide their relationship history via their phone, tablet or computer and immediately receive free personalised guidance.

The partnership ties in perfectly with Allard Bailey's fresh, modern and flexible approach to deliver a sophisticated service and real value for clients.

This week the media reported CAFCASS’ concern over falling rates of adoption due to the rise of surrogacy and more successful IVF rates, placing the spotlight firmly back on so called “alternative” family life.

There is no doubt that surrogacy arrangements are on the rise and less and less the “alternative” with new government guidance issued earlier this year. The latest CAFCASS figures also show applications to court for parental orders up from 44 to 220 from 2005-2015.

Added to the statistics are increasingly reported celebrity surrogacy success stories, from Robbie Williams and Ayda Field, to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, and Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black. Successful IVF rates also seem to climb, along with increased media coverage of pregnancy after age 45, with celebrities such as Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig at the forefront. However, for some adoption is still the right route to create their family and secure the legal rights and welfare of the child and should not be overlooked.