We have been using the law to protect and support our clients since 1860, all the while from Marldon Chambers in Liverpool city centre. You are assured of a warm welcome from our friendly, professional team. Bartletts Solicitors has a tradition of commitment, hard work, and the highest levels of expertise.
Our Experienced Solicitors Are Here for You
With any type of legal work, experience is key to being successful. Our solicitors are very experienced having been qualified for an average of 18 years. Your case will be supervised by a senior solicitor such as Louise Nelson (qualified for 39 years), Mark Burgess (qualified for 31 years), Paul Aberdein (qualified for 28 years), Trevor Morris (qualified for 22 years) and Antony Hunt (qualified for 22 years). When you instruct us you benefit from the combined skill and experience of all our solicitors. Any problem arising during your case will have been successfully dealt with by one of our lawyers before.
'Solid Traditional Values'
John Bartlett and the directors of our firm represent the 'old school' values of the legal profession. They work solely in the interests of the firm's clients, and have worked for only one practice throughout their careers. This is reassuring in a world increasingly driven by short-termism and of large legal companies that go into administration leaving their clients high and dry.
'Delivered in a Modern Convenient Manner'
The firm has invested in the latest technology to make our service easy to use. It’s easy to contact us via phone, email, live chat, or video conferencing. Our clients can also easily get updates with the latest case management software.
Supporting Clients in Times of Need
Our personal injury department recently won over £100,000 in compensation for a client injured at work. The award was extremely important as our client was unable to work to support his family following the accident.
Supporting Access to Justice & Charity
Our firm believes that everyone should have access to quality legal representation. We are members of, and support, the charity Legal Action Group. The charity promotes equal access to justice for all who are socially disadvantaged. We also support Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice, a charity providing end of life care to infants and babies aged from birth to five years suffering from life-limiting conditions.
We have long historical links to the Walker Art Gallery and Liverpool Cathedral.
We will ensure that your will is drafted so that it reflects your wishes. This sometimes means also setting up a trust. We securely store your will. We offer a full probate service allowing you to quickly apply for and obtain a Grant of Probate, enabling the management and distribution of the estate of the deceased with minimum stress.
Call for a no obligation fixed fee quotation if you are thinking of buying, selling or transferring a residential property. Our team makes it is easy and stress free if you are moving home. We are experts at assisting landlords including advice on the landlord specific stamp duty rules.
Our commercial property law department is here to make buying and selling property easy and stress free at affordable fixed fees. Our solicitors are experts at granting and taking on commercial leases. We also handle the purchase and sale of businesses.
Get a free no obligation consultation via phone or in person at our offices. We will provide a quick case assessment and a 'no win no fee' deal on all types of injury claim including road accidents, cycling accidents, work injuries, accidents in public places, and hair and beauty claims. We also have a team of injury solicitors in Walton Vale.
Divorce and separation is a difficult time for you and your family. At Bartletts we can help you get through this and assist you in resolving the issues that can arise. This may be financial matters, issues involving the children or even mediation.
Anthony Hunt has been qualified as a solicitor for over 25 years. Call Anton for a no obligation chat to see if we can help.
We have found that a general guide to various areas helps our clients and also means they have a better understanding of what is likely to happen during the legal process. Often the points contained in the guide prompt our clients to ask important questions, which we can then address.
Before divorce proceedings can be commenced the parties must have been married for at least a year. If you are the petitioner you must prove that the marriage has broken down irretrievably by showing one of the following 5 facts:
· Your spouse’s adultery
· Your spouse’s unreasonable behaviour
· Desertion by your spouse for at least 2 years
· Separation from your spouse for a minimum period of 2 years and they must consent to the divorce
· Separation for a minimum period of 5 years, with or without their consent
Usually divorces are not contested. They tend to be procedural and neither party needs to attend at Court. There are 2 main stages – Decree Nisi followed by Decree Absolute (which formally ends the marriage).
Financial Issues
Once Divorce proceedings have been commenced, and reached Decree Nisi stage, the Court can make orders for maintenance, payment of a lump sum, property adjustment (sale, deferred sale or transfer of a property) and various pension orders. A separate application to Court is necessary – either by consent of the parties or via a disputed hearing.
This is known as “financial provision” proceedings. An application by agreement will normally be approved by the Court without a hearing and within a few weeks of reaching an agreement. A fully contested Court case can take up to a year, although it may settle at any time.
Below we give further information as to what is considered when making a financial order. Once we have the financial details of both parties then it might be possible to agree a settlement with the other party. If not, then you must attend a mediation session before you can ask the Court to be involved.
Our aim is to try to resolve any financial issues without involving the Court. This is cheaper and less stressful. However, if this is not possible (for a variety of potential reasons), Court proceedings may be necessary. Collaborative Law and Mediation are other options that should be considered before involving the Court. We will discuss this with you if it proves necessary. If you are the Respondent to a Divorce Petition and a financial order has not been made, you will lose the right to claim financial provision should you remarry. This does not apply to Petitioners as their claim for financial provision is usually contained in the Petition itself.
When the Court is considering what orders to make in relation to financial provision it will consider a number of issues, including, but not limited to:
· Income of the parties
· Outgoings
· Financial needs, current living standards and needs of the parties/any children
· Financial assets, savings, houses and pensions
· Debts
· Earning capacity of each party
· Age of the parties
· Length of the marriage.
Conduct is not usually relevant when dealing with financial provision and only ever in exceptional circumstances.
Pensions
A pension can now be split under a Court Order (by consent or following a disputed hearing). A percentage of the fund will be referred to in the pension sharing Order. The Order cannot take effect until there is a Decree Absolute. The pension sharing Order will not normally be affected by either party remarrying, entering into a civil partnership or death.
It may be necessary to arrange for a pension expert (with fees involved) to assist with projections/calculations. We shall advise you if this is necessary and obtain an estimate as to the likely cost.
You will also need to obtain details of your state pension entitlement (often dependent upon National Insurance contributions). This can be obtained from the government website www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
Death and Divorce
If you have not already done so, you should consider making a Will now as your spouse may be entitled to your estate under intestacy laws should you die before Decree Absolute.
An existing Will is still valid but Decree Absolute can affect what happens to it. Therefore, you should now consider making a new Will to reflect your current position.
We can pass you to our Wills department to assist in this, and please let us know as soon as possible if you would like us to do that.
Severance of Tenancy
Often the largest matrimonial asset is the matrimonial home. If the property is owned in joint names then it is likely that it is held as “Joint Tenants”. This means that should one of you die, the survivor is automatically entitled to all of the property.
Getting a divorce or making a provision in a Will does not prevent this as property law says that it automatically passes to the surviving Joint Tenant.
If you wish to prevent this you must “sever” the joint tenancy by giving notice to the joint owner and notifying the Land Registry. You can then make a Will leaving your share of the property to your beneficiaries. Please note that severing the Joint Tenancy alone will not ensure that your beneficiaries receive your share of the home. You have to make a Will to be certain your wishes are followed. If you do not make a Will your share in the property will pass in accordance with the Rules of Intestacy.
Children
The Court encourages parties to reach an agreement over the arrangements for children. If this is not possible then mediation may assist.
If a disagreement cannot be resolved through mediation, either party may apply to the Court for an Order (see below). The Court may appoint an officer of CAFCASS (Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Services) to undertake an investigation and that officer will report back to the Court with recommendations as to what is in the children’s best interests.
Child Maintenance
The Court no longer has jurisdiction to make orders for child maintenance other than where both parents agree to the making of such an order. The Child Support Agency (CSA) also no longer exists.
Instead, if you are unable to reach an agreement concerning child maintenance then an application can be made to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to carry out an assessment (see below).
There are additional rules, which may apply, depending upon the education the children require and any other specific needs of the children. Unless you inform us otherwise, we will assume that the children will be attending standard primary or secondary school education.
