Our expertise runs across the full breadth of family law and covers:

• Divorce and Separation
• Financial Settlements
• Cohabitation
• Pre-Nuptial Agreements
• Children
• Emergency Injunctions

Meet the team

Kate Booth

Our team is headed up by Solicitor Kate Booth. Kate joined BTTJ as Head of Department in October 2021. Kate qualified as a solicitor in 2006 and has specialised in family law throughout her career, at firms in Warwickshire and the West Midlands.

Kate deals with private family law cases including divorce and related financial matters, children, injunction and cohabitation issues. She also advises clients in connection with pre-nuptial and cohabitation agreements. Kate ensures that she is fully informed of developments in the law and has a thorough approach to the preparation of documents to ensure her clients’ interests are protected.

Kate works across our Coventry & Warwick offices.

Natasha Aspinall

Natasha qualified as a Solicitor in 2003. She joined us in our Family & Matrimonial department in November 2022, based out of our Balsall Common office.

Natasha joined us from a local Solicitors firm where she worked as Head of the Family Law department for 5 years.

She deals with a whole range of family matters whether they are straight forward or very complex.

Natasha is also a member of the Law Society‘s Family Law Panel. The Law Society developed the specialised Children Panel Accreditation Scheme for solicitors who specialise in this area. Membership depends on meeting the Law Society’s rigorous standards. 

Samantha Chater

Specialising in Matrimonial Law, Samantha qualified as a solicitor in 1996.  She has a wealth of experience in acting for clients in divorce, Children Act matters, the division of marital finances, injunctions where clients have been the victim of domestic violence and cohabitee disputes. Samantha also deals with pre-Nuptial agreements and special guardianship applications. Her years of experience have been recognised by her acquiring two solicitor accreditations.

Samantha has represented parents and children in complex Children Act Disputes.  Samantha has had one of her cases reported on when it went to the Court of Appeal on a significant issue as to whether an alleged perpetrator of abuse could cross-examine the alleged victim or whether the state should fund an advocate to do so.

Samantha is well known and well established in her field particularly for her professionalism, commitment, hard work and for being approachable.  Consequently, she enjoys a number of recommendations from previous clients and other professionals. Samantha works across our Coventry and Southam offices.

Nancy Tebbutt

Nancy joined BTTJ in November 2022 as Paralegal and was promoted to the position of Trainee Solicitor in September 2024. Nancy has continued her training within our Family & Matrimonial team.

Nancy started her LLB at Royal Holloway, University of London in September 2019 and graduated with first class honours in July 2022.

She started working towards her LPC LLM in September 2023, passing with distinction from BPP university.

Nancy is a member of the Warwickshire Law Society Warwickshire Junior Lawyers Division.

Our Solicitors also have dedicated support in their legal secretarial support team comprising of Dawn, Michelle and Jane.

As members of Resolution, our Family Team work in accordance with their Code of Practice to deal with matters in a constructive manner. Our solicitors work with you to provide support and explore all options including not only the court process, but other methods of dispute resolution to best suit your individual needs.

As a long-established family law department, we have close links with and immediate access to specialist barristers, financial advisors and accountants, all of whom we know to be professional, sympathetic and highly competent.  Our focus is always to ensure that your interests are protected.

We pride ourselves on being able to listen and understand precisely what you want, without making any assumptions of what we think you may need.

We have offices in Coventry, Warwick, Southam and Balsall Common and our solicitors work across the whole of the Coventry and Warwickshire region and beyond. Please contact us to see how we can assist.

The post Spotlight on our Family and Matrimonial Services appeared first on Brindley Twist Tafft & James.

Most divorces progress on an undefended basis where the parties accept the marriage has broken down irretrievably.

When can you issue a petition?

You cannot issue a divorce petition unless you have been married for more than one year. If you were married abroad and the marriage ceremony you have undertaken is a recognised and legitimate marriage in that country, then it is regarded as such in this country and you can utilise the divorce process here.

If you wish to be legally separated rather than divorced, you can issue a judicial separation petition within 1 year of marriage.

Do you need the original marriage certificate when filing a divorce petition?

Yes, you will need the original or a certified copy. A copy can be requested from your local registry office for a fee, of usually £10. The certificate will be retained by the court.

If required the court will also need the translation of a marriage certificate plus the original.

What grounds need to be satisfied?

The only ground for divorce is that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. This is proved by establishing the existence of one of five factual circumstances. These are:-

1. Your spouse has committed adultery and you find it intolerable to continue to live with him/her.
2. Your spouse has behaved in such a way that it would be unreasonable to expect you to continue live with him/her.
3. Your spouse has deserted you for a continuous period of two years or more.
4. You have been living apart from your spouse for two years or more and your spouse agrees to the divorce.
5. You have been living apart from your spouse for five years or more, whether or not your spouse agrees to the divorce.

It is no longer compulsory in a petition based on adultery to name the third person concerned.

What about children?

The law encourages couples to reach an agreement over future arrangements for their children without the need for a court to become involved. Orders will not, therefore, automatically be made relating to the children as part of the divorce process.

When are financial issues dealt with?

Negotiations in relation to financial arrangements for the future can take place at any time before, during or after the divorce. At times and in certain circumstances, it is advisable not to apply for decree absolute and finalise the divorce proceedings until after a division of the marital finances has been agreed and ordered by the Court (such as when there are pensions and maintenance considerations particularly).

When will I be able to remarry?

Neither party to the marriage is free to remarry until the final decree of divorce has been made (known as the ‘decree absolute’).

How much will this cost?

Solicitor’s costs are currently in the region of £500-£600 plus VAT and plus disbursements for undefended divorce proceedings. The main disbursement is the Court fee which at present is £550 and that has to be paid to the Court when the petition is issued. We are very happy to discuss your individual situation with you and provide you with an exact price based on your specific circumstances, so please do get in touch with us.

What happens during the proceedings?

Bearing in mind on an undefended divorce there is no requirement to attend Court unless divorce costs are in dispute (in which case you may need to attend at decree nisi stage), in the main the majority of divorces proceed on an undefended basis by the parties simply completing the relevant documentation in the following process:

How long will it take?

Dependant upon how busy the Court is and how prompt each party is in completing their part of their documentation, it can take between 7 to 9 months from start to finish. Again, application for decree absolute should sometimes be delayed in any case pending resolution of the division of marital finances.

If you have any questions about divorce or need any help, please do not hesitate to contact our expert divorce solicitor Samantha Chater on 02476 531532 or email samantha.chater@bttj.com.

The post What is an undefended divorce? appeared first on Brindley Twist Tafft & James.

It is clear that this should not be happening, but usually parental alienation has been dismissed as a common product of bitterness about a failed relationship. But it is actually more than that and it is an intentional form of parental psychological abuse and undermines Universal Declaration Of Human Rights.  In Mexico and Brazil, it is even classed as a criminal offence, so it is good that CAFCASS are now starting to raise awareness about the emotional impact that parental alienation has on the child and they have started to make changes to ensure that parental alienation decreases.

These are complex cases which here at Brindleys we can deal with and unfortunately it is present in about 11%-15% of all UK divorces which makes up 10% of CAFCASS’ private law caseload.  This affects around 6000 children a year, but the new strategy that CAFCASS have implemented will mean that the children can be taken away from the alienating parent and placed with the ‘target parent’ when social workers detect signs of manipulation and the focus will be on allowing the child to maintain a relationship with both parents.  If the alienating parent fails to improve their behaviour, then contact with the child will be restricted and in serious cases, refused.  CAFCASS have developed a 12 week programme called Positive Parenting to help the abusive parent put themselves in their child’s position and change their behaviour.  Some cases involve psychologists and psychiatrists which are brought in to assist with this ground-breaking initiative.

It is clear that the Courts need to step up to these cases far more than they are doing.  These are very complex issues as many parents genuinely believe that they are improving their child’s life by shutting out the other parent and in other cases, both parents feel as though they are victims of alienation, so it is good that things are moving forward, but if you feel that there is parental alienation in your family life, you need to make sure that you act fast.  Give us a call and we will happily talk you through your options to ensure that this is dealt with in the best way for the children.

If you need any help with any family issues, please contact our Family Law specialist Samantha Chater .  You can call Samantha on 024 7653 1532 or email her directly at samantha.chater@bttj.com.

Samantha has a wealth of family law experience and is an accredited member of  both Resolution and The Law Society Children Panel.

The post Parental Alienation appeared first on Brindley Twist Tafft & James.