Family law Solicitors will always stress that it is illegal to monitor a person using online communication tools or spywear. However in the UK, you can legally use covert surveillance cameras in the home to spy on others so long as it is not in an area where there would be an expectation of privacy such as the bathroom/shower/bedroom. 

 

In the case we’re about to look at the use of spy cameras saved a woman’s life. 

As specialist divorce solicitors, it is rare that we at MG Legal get to write about marriage, but the Law Commission is to conduct a two- year review of marriage ceremonies in England and Wales view a view to cutting red tape. This follows a 2015 review which much to everyone’s surprise (**sarcasm intended**) found the laws surrounding marriage to be outdated and too restrictive. We were particularly surprised to hear this given that the laws surrounding marriage only date back to 1836. So, Chancellor Phillip Hammond announced in his 2018 budget that the Law Commission should draw up proposals for change following the review. 

 

The suggestion is that the project will look at the current laws as to how and where marriages can take place. There have been suggestions that military bases should allowed to be used for marriages for military personnel along with proposals that couples are allowed to marry in their own homes or at sea. The Law Commission's aim is to look at creating a simpler, fairer system that provides more choices and an alternative to the cost of an approved venue or registry office. The Government in the meantime is going to separately look to introduce new legislation which will allow civil weddings and civil partnerships to be held outside. Naturally; the Ministry of Justice said any new venues “would have to meet the existing test of solemnity and dignity”. 

Sometimes, through no fault of your own, relationships just don’t work out. No matter how hard you work to try to fix it, sometimes it’s just not fixable. Maybe you’ve grown apart; maybe you realised that although you love your significant other, you no longer love them in the way you’re supposed to- it’s a cliché, but maybe you really are better off as friends. After all, not all love affairs have a happy ending. 

You may have read our previous blog (which you can find here) on legal aid cuts, and the effects on law firms such as your Solicitors in Lancaster, MG Legal. Well now there is a further development: The Ministry of Justice has published a plan, which outlines action needed to support the legal industry, and members of the public accessing legal services. 

 

Currently in family law, legal aid is only available for cases where domestic abuse has been a factor, whether that is to do with child contact or divorce proceedings. Now, the MoJ is proposing to expand legal aid coverage to include Special Guardianship Orders (by Autumn 2019) and cases to do with separated migrant children (by Spring 2019). 

Following the case of Owens v Owens, which has made headlines on more than one occasion in recent months, the Government are proposing making changes to Laws surrounding divorces, to minimise the stress and anxiety it causes the parties involved. 

 

MG Legal Lancaster Solicitors have summarised the main points of the report, to help you understand what it entails. 

Just because a person does not necessarily live in the United Kingdom their whole life, this does not mean that they are not entitled to issue divorce proceedings here. 

Finding new clients requiring a solicitor is, believe it or not, uber-competitive. I mean, as soon as you Google ‘personal injury solicitors in Preston’ claims management companies appear at the top of the page, and they don’t even have an office within 20 miles of the Preston area. So, in such times, what does your local property and divorce solicitors do? Well, they turn to social media in order to attract more clients.. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and maybe even Pinterest. 

MG Legal, local divorce Solicitors, were shocked to discover Triple talaq, as it is commonly called, is an ancient and controversial Islamic practice where a man divorces a woman by saying the word talaq, the Arabic word for divorce, three times.  

 

The practice, which should take three months, is often instantaneous and there are even reports of it being delivered by phone or text message. On the flip side, many UK divorces take anywhere between 6 weeks and 12 months once the papers are in. The practice of triple talaq, by contrast, often sees women being forced to leave the family home instantly, and in many cases becoming single mothers in a matter of minutes.