At One Pump Court, we understand how stressful separations can be, and how much harder they are when each party is struggling achieve financial independence from each other at the same time.  

In a legal climate where the Courts frequently complain about the high percentage of parties’ assets being wasted on legal costs, we offer affordable rates, and work hard to ensure that every penny you spend is strictly necessary to achieve a favourable outcome to your case.  

We understand that a good compromise can save money, time and lingering resentments, and we offer pragmatic advice and robust negotiation to achieve an agreement where it is in our clients’ interests.  Many of our barristers also work as mediators and arbitrators, or offer Early Neutral Evaluations or Private FDRs as alternative routes to achieve this.  However, where cases do go to trial, our barristers are known across the Bar for their meticulous and tenacious advocacy.

We can advise on the status of relationships (including foreign and customary marriages) and provide timely advice, drafting and representation at every stage of divorce and separation proceedings..

We have a specialist finance team with extensive experience at all levels of —

• matrimonial financial remedies cases (including after overseas divorces, or where jurisdiction issues arise),
• cohabitation cases,
• inheritance, wills and probate,
• child maintenance, both through the Child Maintenance Tribunal and through the Family Court.
• applications for financial remedies for the benefit of children (e.g. under Children Act 1989 Schedule 1), including where a party lives overseas,
• financial claims where a party lacks capacity to litigate, e.g. where the Official Solicitor, attorney or deputy is giving instructions for a party,
• public law financial assistance (such as special guardianship packages, kinship allowances).
• cases where there is a dispute or uncertainty about the validity of the marriage itself (e.g. where the marriage took place overseas).
• cases involving declarations of parentage or presumption of death.

The inter-disciplinary nature of chambers gives us an unrivalled edge over “family-only” sets in the many cases which do not neatly fit into “family law”, such as cases where there are—

• third parties asserting an interest in property,
• cohabitee dispute,s
• TOLATA (Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996) claims,
• land law issues,
• tenancy issues,
• tax issues,
• trusts issues,
• issues about the ownership of limited companies,
• bankruptcies,
• proceeds of crime/criminal confiscation proceedings,
• mental capacity,
• questions of immigration status.

We are also pleased to advise in non-contentious cases, such as pre-/post-nuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements, settling deeds of trust for co-owners of property.