Ian Walker Family Law and Mediation Solicitors are now also Family Law Solicitors in Torquay
The last 18 months has been an exceptional period for Ian Walker Family Law and Mediation Solicitors.
In this period, we have:
Whilst less visible, we have made changes to our website and to our procedures so that we have improved out transparency about legal pricing/charges and our systems to provide and outstanding service to our clients.
As part of these changes we have incorporated innovative technology into our website to assist new clients to better engage with us and to improve what we are able to provide at initial meeting. We have also introduced a pay as you go and wider fixed fee service.
The final step in this period of growth is the opening of our Torquay Family Law Office on the 03 June 2019.
Our Torquay Family Law Office is conveniently located in Lymington Road, at the Torquay Business Centre.
We selected this as a location because it is easily accessible from all parts of Torquay. Torquay Business Centre is a relatively short distance from Torquay County Court. It is also reasonably convenient for Torbay Council social services meetings at Union House.
We also have the benefit of being able to offer free parking (subject to availability and normally pre-booking) and good disabled access.
Our Torquay solicitors team will be led by Nicole Phare.
Nicole qualified as a specialist family law solicitor in 2005 and specialises in both children law and divorce.
Nicole enjoyed a long career in family law before qualifying as a solicitor and most of her career has been spent working for different practices in Torbay
Nicole will be supported in building our Torquay family law solicitors office by our director Ian Walker and highly experienced solicitors David Howell-Richardson and Sandy Powell.
Both Ian and Sandy have had careers which have included working for South Devon/Torquay practices and between us, we have assisted many Torbay families over the years.
We are conscious that over the years the number of solicitors firms who undertake complex children work in Torquay has significantly reduced.
Before we opened our Torquay solicitors office there were only two firms of solicitors with offices in Torquay which included members of the Law Society Children Panel and which still offer a legally aided service.
By opening an office in Torquay we have taken this number up to 3.
From our Torquay family law solicitors office we will be assisting clients both with children law and divorce.
We are a team of specialist divorce lawyers in Torquay. We will be offering a divorce service from our Torquay family law office.
At Ian Walker Family Law and Mediation Solicitors we are committed members of the family law solicitors organisation Resolution. Ian Walker is now in his third (three year) term as the elected chair of the Devon region of resolution. Ian is also a member of Resolution’s national Dispute Resolution Committee which promotes innovation and best practice in resolving family Law and divorce cases out of court. He has previously served as both a member of the Law Society Family Law Committee and as a trustee of the Family Mediators Association. One of Ian’s achievements was the introduction of collaborative family law in Devon.
We are committed to assisting our divorce clients to resolve their cases in a principled and fair way which focuses on achieving good outcomes but ensures that the needs of the couple’s children are not lost in (often unnecessary) adult disputes.
If you believe we can assist – please do get in touch.
In six and half years we have grown from nothing to being a leading family law solicitors practice and mediation service in the south-west.
We have achieved our growth through the innovative use of technology. Are use of technology is both client facing and also within the platform through which we work. We make good use of cloud technology. We use other innovative software and we subscribe to the best available family law practice support service.
We now have SRA authorised offices in Honiton, Exeter, Torquay and Weston-super-Mare as well as consulting rooms we access in Yeovil and Bridgwater.
Our team consists of both employed solicitors and fee share consultant’s.
Whilst on the one hand we intend to consolidate the advances we have made over the last 18 months, on the other hand, we are always open to new opportunities.
We are therefore ever open to hear from outstanding family lawyers who might be based in Devon and Somerset slightly further afield who are interested in joining an innovative, collegiate, noncorporate but highly professional and expert team. Our team has grown around its people and being open to new opportunities and if you share our vision and would like to join our journey then we would like to hear from you. (Equity opportunities are available). Join our Family Law Solicitors in Torquay.
In the next couple of weeks the Legal Aid Agency will finally be launching the tender process for new Legal Aid contracts to run from 2018. Those providers wishing to offer/ continue to offer a legally aided service for both family law and for family mediation from May 2018 will need to tender for new contracts.
This tender process has been much delayed and we are pleased that it will finally be happening.
From what we understand, we should meet the expected criteria for family law and family mediation:
This is the third tender process and the previous one was the trigger for the foundation of Ian Walker Family Law and Mediation Solicitors.
That there is a broad and accessible supplier base is important to allow clients to access justice.
Together with the Committee of Devon Resolution (of which I am Chair), we have organised some training to assist members of Devon Resolution to get their tenders right.
We are fortunate to have arranged the training with Matt Howgate who is a Legal Aid expert and is the main trainer for the Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG).
The training will be on 13 October in Exeter. Devon Resolution members should already have received notice. If you are a Devon Resolution member and didn’t get my email about the training, please let me know asap.
The training is particularly aimed at those and their deputies who will be responsible for preparing, checking and submitting their firms tenders
To coincide with Resolution Good Divorce Week we are launching our own innovative Family Law Mediation-Arbitration (med-arb) Scheme.
Sorting out financial arrangements connected with divorce can be painfully slow and horrendously expensive. If the case proceeds through a court process costs can easily exceed £15,000 each and the whole process from walking into a solicitors office for the first time to obtaining a financial order can take over a year – sometimes well over a year
Mediation can help couples to reach agreements much quicker and at less cost – but mediation does not guarantee that an agreement will be reached. If the mediation fails this adds to the cost and to the delay – which is why many families – particularly where there is a limited budget decide not to mediate.
I am one of a handful of practitioners who are quadruple qualified as a Solicitor, Family Mediator, Civil Mediator and Arbitrator. What I have done, is to work out a scheme – a process – which combines the security to clients of receiving legal advice and representation, the benefits of reaching an agreement through mediation together with the certainty of outcome that can be achieved with arbitration.
Most clients are familiar with what a solicitor does (advise and represent) and what a mediator does (assist the couple on a neutral basis to negotiate – and hopefully also to improve their working relationship).
Arbitration is a different form of resolving disputes. It is relatively new in the context of family breakdown. Essentially the arbitrator is a private judge who will make a legally binding decision.
In our Family Law Mediation-Arbitration Scheme we have worked at a process where the solicitors gather together financial disclosure and advise their clients on the parameters and fairness of what a settlement could be. This is what solicitors are really good at. Obtaining a clear financial picture can be more challenging for a mediator.
The solicitors and the mediator and the couple work towards a one off mediation meeting where all will attend – armed with all the information that they need with a view to reaching an agreement. We have called this the Case Resolution Mediation Meeting. Most cases will settle at this stage.
The mediator will work with the couple at the outset to deal with any interim issues and then before the Case Resolution Mediation Meeting to help the couple be properly prepared for that meeting – in order to maximise the prospects of settlement.The mediator will use their skills at the Case Resolution Mediation Meeting to maximise the prospects of settlement. If all goes well a final financial consent order will be drafted on the day.
If the case does not settle at the Case Resolution Mediation Meeting our Family Law Mediation-Arbitration Scheme allows the case to move seamlessly into an arbitration process.
In most cases, even if there is not an agreement at the Case Resolution Mediation Meeting, the gap between the couple should be sufficiently narrow that the arbitrator will be able to make a decision simply by looking at the paperwork.
If a paper arbitration is not possible then there will be an arbitration hearing.
Even in the worst-case scenario, the whole process should be able to be completed in less than six months. The biggest potential delay would be obtaining pension information/advice.
Apart from the scenario where there is an attended Arbitration Hearing – the eventualities are sufficiently predictable that these can be charged on a fixed fee basis. Full details of the fixed fees are in the scheme documentation. However, in all scenarios the costs should be significantly less then a contested court process.
The process gets underway after the couple and their solicitors sign the mediation contract and the binding agreement to arbitrate. This means that if the mediation part fails everyone is committed to proceed to arbitration. Our Family Law Mediation-Arbitration Scheme does however include a single break clause which deals with a scenario where one of the couple fails to provide full financial disclosure. This break is there as a safeguard – but it is unlikely to be needed – because exercising the break calls will commit the couple to spending thousands of pounds in a court process.
Here is a link to the scheme’s home page on our website:
http://ian-walker-family-law.local/solicitor-led-family-mediation/mediation-arbitration-scheme/
Here is a download to our detailed Family Law Mediation-Arbitration Scheme brochure.
mediation-arbitration-agreement-to-mediate-25november2016
In order for this to all work we need to have a team of expert arbitrators and solicitors who are committed to working within the process and who are willing to work to the fee scheme.
I am pleased to say that we are very lucky with our panel of participating arbitrators. These are:
Karin Walker|Partner KGW Family Law, Woking
Ian Taylor |Partner Coodes, St Austell. Deputy District Judge
Rhys Taylor |Barrister, 36 Bedford Row Chambers, London.
Barbara Corbett | Partner, Benest Corbett Renouf, Jersey.
Karin Walker is a member of the National Committee of Resolution and she is also the Chair of the Resolution Dispute Resolution Committee.All of our participating arbitrators and our initial panels of solicitors have considered the terms of the Family Law Mediation-Arbitration Scheme very carefully and are all very happy to be involved in it. The mediation side of the scheme has also been independently assessed by my own mediation PPC (practice supervisor).
I am in the role of mediator.I have been a family mediator since 1996.
I am also a practising solicitor and an arbitrator and mediator for civil disputes (where the style of mediation is slightly different).
Our initial panel of solicitors are:
Zoe Gaitskell | Partner Beviss & Beckingsale 01404 548055 Fin O’Leary | Solicitor Scott Rowe 01297 32345 Kim Stradling | Partner Everys 01395 264384 Terry Bastyan | Partner Gilbert Stephens 01392 424242 Fiona Yellowlees| Partner WBW 01626 202415 Victoria Oerton and Graham Simm| Partners Oerton Simm 01823 259449
All are very experienced solicitors and members of Resolution.
Our scheme is inclusive and not exclusive. We would be very happy for other solicitors to participate and we will also be happy for the solicitors to pick arbitrators not on our panel.
To be included on the list – solicitors need to commit to the fixed fees and to working within the spirit of the scheme.
I could not speak to everyone that I know in the legal world when I was working this out. I therefore limited those who I discussed it with to some near neighbours.
If anyone would like to be added to the list, they will be very welcome.
I will be offering the scheme in its attached form in East Devon (from Honiton), Exeter, Taunton and Newton Abbot. I am happy to run a modified version of the scheme elsewhere.
If you are slightly further afield and you would like to be able to participate in the scheme then please do let me know and we can work out how we can make modifications to benefit your clients.
Here is a flowchart showing how it works. But you need to read the full brochure. (Link above)
We invest a lot of ourselves in our personal relationships. The break-up of a marriage or long term relationship is likely to unleash a lot of negative emotions.
As an experienced family law solicitor I know in this emotional maelstrom there is a serious risk that one or both of the couple may make poor decisions which they might later regret.
Before taking any steps on behalf of a client, I would always wish them to be clear that they are certain in any decision to separate. “The grass is not always greener”. On the other hand some relationships do reach the point where they are broken beyond repair and are even harmful. (more…)
We are currently advertising in Devon Life Magazine. We have an advertorial coming up. This is a piece I prepared. Ultimately I have used something else because this was too long. Hopefully it gives you good idea about us. Please read on…
We are both a specialist family law solicitors and a mediation service.
Mediation is assisted negotiation.
A neutral mediator assists a couple to undertake confidential negotiations and to make informed decisions to achieve an outcome acceptable to both. It is particularly helpful in family situations, where a couple’s ability to communicate can be impaired by the emotions arising from their separation. Making informed decisions can also include taking legal advice at the right stage.
As solicitors we give clients confidential advice of their rights and we are able to represent clients in court proceedings. Advice Is based upon the Client’s Best Interests.
I am not able to do both roles. There would be conflicts of interest.
However if a potential client is not sure whether to instruct me as a solicitor or as a mediator, I am able to see them to discuss the options.
Unless/until I am asked to give legal advice then I am able to be a mediator. It is only when advice is given that a choice has been made. If a potential client is not sure how they wish to proceed then I would always say that it is best to come in for a chat and we can then decide how to proceed from there.
(more…)
As an experienced family law solicitor I know that the Christmas period is not a happy time for everyone. In the run-up to Christmas we deal with a surge in cases between separated parents who are in dispute about where their children to spend time.
Some families manage to hold things together over Christmas but the cracks within the relationship are such that as the New Year arrives one will decide that they cannot face another year together.
This explains why Solicitors see an increase in new instructions each January.
Separating in a planned way represents an opportunity to avoid hasty decisions and bad choices.
Before taking any steps on behalf of a client, I would always wish them to be clear that they are certain in any decision to separate. “The grass is not always greener”. On the other hand (more…)
The Address of Taunton branch office is now: Exchange House, 12-14 The Crescent, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 4EB, Telephone: 01823 429183
Link to the page for our Taunton Branch Office We are able to see clients by appointment in Taunton.
Exchange House is located opposite Somerset County Council and very close to Taunton County Court (below). There is shoppers parking located behind the Office (the Boots Car Park).
This is a perfect location for us because it is always good to be near the Court. As well as Divorce we also specialise in Child Law. Ian has been a member of the Children Panel since 1996. It is also a good location from which to mediate.
In October 2013 I met a new client who was the grandmother of a child who was subject to care proceedings. The local authority in question had reached the conclusion that the child’s parents were not going to be able to provide their child with good enough care and were looking at alternative options, including adoption. At the point in time when we were instructed the child was about to be moved from a placement with a different family member into foster care.
My client had received a cursory viability assessment from a social worker who had immediately left the employment of the local authority and was not being looked at as a possible carer for the child, either in the short term, or in the long term.
My client disagreed with the negative viability assessment. She was confident that she would be able to provide a secure and loving home for her granddaughter. She did not feel that she had been fairly assessed and (more…)
The Office of National Statistics is a good source of information about lots of things. Below are some facts about Divorce.
We are interested in these because as Solicitors we assist clients divorce in as humane way as possible and as Family Mediators we do the same.
Particularly poignant is Fact 11 which is that 48% of couples divorcing had at least one child aged under 16 living with the family. That is a lot of children.
13 Facts about Divorce in 2012 on the ONS Website
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A Prenuptial Agreement is an agreement between a couple, before marriage, which intends to regulate what is to happen about property and finances if they separate.
The Law of Divorce means that any agreement between the couple is not binding until it has been approved by a Court. The Court has discretion and the Judge needs to be satisfied that the agreement is reasonable.
The Court has a wide discretion and this is deliberate, in order to ensure that the weaker of the couple is protected from unfairness. The Court will also wish to ensure that the needs of any minor children are also met. This said the Court is increasingly unlikely to disallow an agreement which has been reached in a fair way and where the implementation of the Agreement in full would lead to an outcome which it would not be fair to hold the couple to.
Lord Philips of the Supreme Court explained in 2010 in the case of Radmacher (formerly Granatino) v Granatino:
‘The court should give effect to a nuptial agreement that is freely entered into by each party with a full appreciation of its implications unless in the circumstances prevailing it would not be fair to hold the parties to their agreement’.
In a nutshell, the couple need to show;
1. The contracts were entered into freely and voluntarily; 2. Both parties had the benefit of independent, competent legal advice; and 3. Full disclosure was made of all relevant, financial and other circumstances.
What the Court will look at when it is asked to approve the terms of the Agreement
The Supreme Court said there were also three issues that needed to be considered by the Court when deciding whether to give effect to a Prenuptial Agreement
1. Were there circumstances attending the making of the agreement which should detract from the weight which should be accorded to it? 2. Did the foreign elements of the case enhance the weight that should be accorded to the agreement? 3. Did the circumstances prevailing at the time the court made its order make it fair or just to depart from the agreement?
So far as point 3 is concerned a significant event such as the birth of children in the relationship may supersede the agreement.
The Court would also be interested to know if one or both of the couple were from a country where such agreements are more common than in this country. Can you cut corners?
If you try to cut corners, you will not find out if you have succeeded until it is too late.
If a Prenuptial agreement is right for you, it is worth investing the the time to get it done properly in order to ensure enforceability. You could save a few hundred pounds now and it could cost you thousands, even hundreds of thousands of pounds later.
Is it better to build a house of straw or a house of bricks?
In theory anyone might benefit from having a Pre-Nup. We would particularly suggest older couples, perhaps entering into a second marriage, where one or both have children and where one or both have assets of some value.
They are not romantic, but they are pragmatic and realistic. Going into a marriage with open eyes does not mean that that the marriage is being undermined. You could argue, that by having serious discussions about money in advance of a wedding will mean that a couple have a better sense of the strength of their relationship and better understanding of each other’s attitudes toward money. Perhaps those are ingredients for a more durable and successful union?
In the spring of 2014 the Law Commission reported on the subject of Prenuptial Agreements. No changes to the current law have been made as yet. The essence of what was proposed was a clearer system which might encourage greater use. However the need to do go through an open process to allow both of the couple to make informed decisions with Legal Advice and disclosure remain key.
In short we would say yes. Luckily we are Family Law Solicitors in Honiton, Exeter and Taunton who undertake this work.
