Publications

"He is going to fight me for custody of the children".

"I am separated and need to sort out access to the kids".

The terms of custody and access continue to be used on a frequent basis amongst couples following the breakdown of their relationship when trying to resolve difficulties in relation to the children.  However, the terminology of "custody" and "access" is over 20 years out of date.

Staff at Michelmores Solicitors have voted for adoption charity ‘Families for Children’ as the firm’s Charity of the Year and the recipient of the bulk of its considerable fund-raising efforts.

MP John Hemming on 13 December indicated that he believed that there were up to 1,000 children a year in England being adopted for the wrong reasons and were being taken wrongfully from their families. He argued that the threshold for removing children from their families was often too low resulting in children being removed from their family in contravention of their right to family life. He is arguing in Parliament for an inquiry into secret court decisions.

On Wednesday 14 December Panorama ran a programme about what they consider to be the truth of adoption. The film maker Roger Graef raised a controversial question as to whether or not it is right for anyone and everyone to have children. In his documentary he indicated that the care system is currently letting down a growing number of children who will not remain with their birth parents or have little chance of successful adoption. He indicated that in the 3 films that he had made for Panorama about vulnerable children a pattern had emerged. He stated that the parents whose children are taken into care are often truly dysfunctional but go on to have more children who also end up being removed.

The Family Law Service at Michelmores Solicitors has donated a variety of Christmas items for families fleeing from Domestic Abuse this Christmas.

Tonight, Thursday 17 November 2011, there is a Devon wide meeting of collaborative lawyers.

This group was, in part, established by the experienced and well known Family Law mediator and collaborative lawyer, Penny Rogers. Collaborative law provides divorcing or separating couples with a real opportunity to work together, as a team, with trained professionals to resolve disputes respectfully, without going to Court.

The Supreme Court has today made a land mark decision to uphold a pre-nuptial agreement.

The Times continues its campaign to improve what they consider to be the adoption crisis. Today they have published an article in the paper by Dr Chris Hanvey who is the Chief Executive of the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health.

The Family Law Service is proud to support BAAF's (British Agency for Adoption and Fostering) campaign to wear a smile for BAAF on Monday 17 January 2011.

At the Conservative Party Conference this week, David Cameron announced that he was going to take a very personal interest in changes to the adoption process. The Times newspaper has been running a campaign that indicates that adoption needs to be transformed due to the delays and hurdles that are faced in placing children for adoption. 

Two solicitors from Michelmores LLP, have been appointed to the Law Society's Children's Panel enabling them to represent children as well as adults in court proceedings.

The Family Law team at Michelmores is celebrating being shortlisted for two national awards.

The Department of Education announced today that the levels of adoption in this country are dropping by about 5%. They say that their survey tells them only 60 children had adoptions completed by their first birthday compared with 70 last year.

The Michelmores Family Law Service has been awarded a contract by the Legal Services Commission to continue to offer public funding (legal aid) to clients.

The Michelmores Family Law Service has donated 50 presents to vulnerable families this Christmas and supplied festive trees to two children's homes.

As Devon County Council faces £55 million cut in spending, what will this mean for the children and young people services in Devon?

Newspaper headlines aren't the only reason to access personal information.  Amy Sanders, a solicitor in the Family law Team at Michelmores, looks at personal information security which could affect divorce proceedings or other family disputes.

Family solicitors traditionally observe two distinct peaks in new instructions for divorce proceedings within the year. The first is in January after the Christmas/New Year festivities and the second is in September after the school summer holidays.

Gareth Johnson, Conservative MP for Dartford and Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on infertility has, within the last few days, specifically recommended that all Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) should be offering free cycles of IVF treatment as recommended by the NICE Guidelines. 
It is estimated that 1 in 7 couples in the UK suffer from infertility problems. 

A prominent Exeter based lawyer is to take on a lecturing role at the University of Plymouth.

Vanessa is the first Family Solicitor of the Year.