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.

Parental Responsibility is defined by the Children Act 1989 as “all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authorities which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and their property”.  The term parental responsibility attempts to focus on the parents’ duties toward their child rather than the parents’ rights over the child.

Where important decisions regarding a child need to be made then all of those with Parental Responsibility for the child should be involved in such decisions.   The general day to day decisions should be made by the parent with whom the children reside without interference from the others that hold parental responsibility.   The important decisions which should only be made by those who hold parental responsibility are as follows:

1. Decisions regarding the child’s education and choice of school.
2. Changing a child’s name.
3. Consenting to a child’s operation or certain medical treatment.
4. Consenting to take a child abroad for holidays or extended stays.
5. Determining the religion the child should be brought up with.

All mothers will automatically have parental responsibility and fathers who are married to or in a civil partnership with the mother automatically have parental responsibility and will not lose that if they are divorced or the civil partnership is dissolved.    A father who is not married or in a civil partnership with the mother can obtain parental responsibility in the following ways:

1. Marrying or entering into a civil partnership with mother
2. Having his name registered or re-registered on the birth certificate if his name is not already registered.
3. Entering into a Parental Responsibility agreement with mother.
4. Obtaining a Parental Responsibility Order from the Court.
5. Having obtained a Residence Order prior to the 22 April 2014.
6. Being named as the resident parent under a Child Arrangements Order.

However, Parental Responsibility does not provide an automatic right to the holder to have contact with a child.    What time each parent is to spend with a child is to be agreed between the parties and if an agreement cannot be reached then either party will need to make an application to the Court for a Child Arrangements Order.   Prior to such an application being made the Court will expect the parties to have engaged in Mediation to ascertain whether an agreement can be reached.

Our family department has extensive experience with handling children cases. If you need assistance please contact our friendly team to see how we can help.

Article written by Family & Matrimonial Solicitor, Natasha Aspinall.

The post Misconception on what Parental Responsibility means appeared first on Brindley Twist Tafft & James.

1) When can you issue a petition?
You cannot issue a divorce petition unless you have been married for more than one year. It does not matter where you were married.

2) 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.

3) 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:-

• (a) Your spouse has committed adultery and you find it intolerable to continue to live with him/her.
• (b) Your spouse has behaved in such a way that it would be unreasonable to expect you to continue live with him/her.
• (c) Your spouse has deserted you for a continuous period of two years or more.
• (d) You have been living apart from your spouse for two years or more and your spouse agrees to the divorce.
• (e) 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.

4) 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.

5) 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. It is usually not necessary for negotiations to have been completed before the divorce can be finalised.

6) 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’).

7) How much will this cost?
Solicitor’s costs will normally be in the region of £500-£600 plus value added tax and disbursements. The main disbursement is the Court fee of £550 that has to be paid to the Court when the petition is issued.

8) What happens during the proceedings?

• a) Issue of the petition:
• b) Petition and acknowledgement of service are sent to the Respondent
• c) If the divorce is not going to be defended, the Respondent completes the question and answer form (acknowledgement of service) and sends it back to the Court office.
• d) The Acknowledgment of Service is sent to the Petitioner’s solicitors by the court, who then prepare a statement to be signed by the Petitioner in support of the petition and this is submitted to the court.
• e) Decree nisi is pronounced
• f) Decree absolute can be requested 6 weeks after the date of the decree nisi.

The firm has over 20 years experience with helping people in these situations. Our current team comprises;

• David Hawley, a partner in the firm and an experienced family law practitioner;
• Melanie Timms, a family solicitor with experience of both children and divorce matters.

If you feel we can help, or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact David or Melanie on 02476 531532.

Melanie Timms
Family Solicitor

The post Divorce-An Overview appeared first on Brindley Twist Tafft & James.