Very “hands-on”, considerate, polite and yet utterly professional and effective.
Legal 500 (2022/2023) – Hall Brown
"Excellent client care skills and meticulous preparation"
Legal 500 (2021/2022) – Hall Brown
"I never have to worry about anything as they take everything in their stride"
Chambers & Partners (2021/2022) – Hall Brown
Hall Brown is the premier firm
Legal 500 (2022/2023) – Hall Brown
An excellent reputation for quality and tenacity
Chambers and Partners (2018/2019) – Hall Brown
an exceptional team.
Legal 500 (2023/2023) – Hall Brown
Their approach is modern, ambitious and they attract high-quality work
Legal 500 (2022/2023) – Hall Brown
an excellent team with enormous amounts of experience and knowledge
Chambers & Partners (2022/2023) – Hall Brown
"Well known and well respected for high net worth money work"
Legal 500 (2021/2022) – Hall Brown
First class lawyers who are approachable and truly excellent
Legal 500 (2017/2018) – Hall Brown
"They're responsive, quick across the mark and don't let anything rest"
Chambers & Partners (2021/2022) – Hall Brown
The team at Hall Brown make their clients feel like family; the personal approach
Legal 500 (2022/2023) – Hall Brown
Their team is made up of intelligent, dedicated and personable lawyers
Legal 500 (2022/2023) – Hall Brown
"Hall Brown are brilliant"
Chambers & Partners (2021/2022) – Hall Brown
"Thorough knowledge of law and procedure"
Legal 500 (2021/2022) – Hall Brown
Hall Brown stand out from their peers
Legal 500 (2023/2024) – Hall Brown
A leading law firm
Legal 500 (2023/2024) – Hall Brown
...the best lawyers...an excellent team
Legal 500 (2020/2021) – Hall Brown
The team is without doubt one of the leading family law firms
Legal 500 (2022/2023) – Hall Brown
For family law, they are the premier law firm
Chambers & Partners (2023/2024) – Hall Brown
"A forward thinking, modern practice. Very responsive"
Legal 500 (2021/2022) – Hall Brown
They have the best partners and associates and have created a truly exceptional firm
Legal 500 (2022/2023) – Hall Brown
Nothing but exceptional
Chambers and Partners (2017/2018) – Hall Brown
Each team member is equally effective in communication they support each other
Legal 500 (2022/2023) – Hall Brown
best in class
Legal 500 (2023/2024) – Hall Brown
"An exceptional law firm"
Legal 500 (2021/2022) – Hall Brown
At the top of its game
Legal 500 (2018/2019) – Hall Brown
They are well respected by fellow lawyers.
Legal 500 (2022/2023) – Hall Brown
Simply the best
Legal 500 (2020/2021) – Hall Brown
Legal Glossary
Acknowledgement of Service – The form a respondent receives confirming that a divorce petition has been received. It should be completed and returned to the court.
Adultery – Having sexual intercourse with an individual of the opposite sex other than your spouse.
Affidavit – A written statement which is sworn to be true by the person signing it. It is sworn before someone authorised by the court.
Attachment of Earnings – A court order that deductions be made from a person’s income. The employer pays the money direct to the person owed money by the employee.
Beneficial interest – Who has the benefit of a certain asset. Even though an asset may be legally owned by one person, the true beneficial owner may be somebody else.
Bigamy – The offence committed by someone who is already married but still goes through a marriage ceremony with someone else.
Care Order – An order by a court instructing the local authority to care for a child.
Child Maintenance Service – Part of the Department of Social Security. It supervises the assessment and payment of maintenance for children.
Child Maintenance – The amount of maintenance the parent not living with their child must pay.
Child Arrangements Order – An order setting out where a child will live and how the child’s time will be divided.
Civil Partnership – Commonly known as “gay marriage”. Same-sex couples may enter into civil partnerships which bring about the same rights and obligations as marriage. They are terminated in a similar process to divorce.
Cohabitation – A couple living together as husband and wife, whether they are a same-sex or opposite-sex couple. At present there is no specific legal definition of what amounts to cohabitation.
“Common-law Marriage” – There is no legal concept of common-law marriage something often misunderstood by a couple moving in together.
Consent Order – An order setting out the terms that have been agreed between the parties.
Contempt of court – The offence of:
disobeying a court order
abusing a judge during a court case
interfering in the administration of justice.
Decree absolute – The final court order which ends a marriage.
Decree nisi – A provisional court order which orders that a marriage should be dissolved. Usually the only part of the court process in a divorce which takes place in open court and which the public can attend.
Divorce – The legal end to a marriage.
Divorce petition – An application for the legal ending of a marriage.
Domicile – The country which is your permanent home, even if you are living somewhere else for now.
Domicile of choice – The country in which you make your home, intending it to be permanent.
Domicile of origin – The domicile which a newborn child has. This is usually its father’s domicile or, if the father is dead, its mother’s domicile.
Expert witness – An expert in a particular field who is called to give an opinion in a court case.
Financial Dispute Resolution Hearing – A hearing which takes place as part of the ancillary relief process. It is commonly known as an “FDR” and is an opportunity for the parties to negotiate a final financial settlement with the input and assistance of a family judge. The parties do not give evidence and the judge cannot impose a decision upon them.
Form A – The application to start financial proceedings.
Form E – A statement setting out a party’s financial information in ancillary relief proceedings.
Injunction – An order of the court preventing a person from taking a specific step. For example, an injunction may prevent a person disposing of an asset or attending at the family home.
Jurisdiction is:
the territory in which a court can operate
the power it has to deal with particular cases
the power it has to issue orders
Maintenance – Money paid to support a spouse and children when a marriage has ended. Otherwise known as “periodical payments”.
Matrimonial home – The house in which a husband and wife live in as a married couple.
Mediation – Help from an independent person who assists a separating couple in resolving their legal differences at the end of a relationship.
Non-molestation Order – An order dealing with a party’s behaviour. It commonly prevents a person from threatening, intimidating etc another
Occupation Order – An order determining who should live in a property. One party will be permitted to live in the property, the other will be excluded.
Polygamy – Being married to more than one person at once.
Pre-Nuptial Agreement – An agreement entered into by a couple prior to their marriage which is intended to determine financial claims should they divorce. They are not binding upon English law, although the courts will attach a great deal of weight to such agreements if they are properly drawn up and if certain safeguards are met.
Post-Nuptial Agreement – The same as a pre-nuptial agreement but is entered into between a couple after the marriage as opposed to beforehand.
Prohibited Steps Order – An order prohibiting a certain act.
Respondent – The person an action is being taken against.
Specific Issue Order – An order permitting a certain activity in respect of children. A specific issue order may address which school a child shall attend or whether they should undergo certain medical treatment or receive certain religious education.
Statement of Information – The statement summarising the parties’ respective finances.
Undertaking – A promise which can be enforced by law such as a promise made by one of the parties or by their lawyer during legal proceedings.
Without prejudice – When written on a document, the document cannot be used as evidence that a contract or agreement exists.