The new Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has reviewed its policy and opened it up to now be applicable to any applicants with two or more children.

From this month, parents with two or more children who decide to separate and then use the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) are expected to find they are put on a new system, where parents will be encouraged to sort out their maintenance payments between them, rather than relying on the Government to do it on their behalf.

Work and Pensions Minister Steve Webb said: "The Child Maintenance Service is progressing well and has reached the next stage of its delivery. Caseworkers report that the system is easier to use and, for the first time, HM Revenue & Customs wage data is being used to calculate payments.

"We are learning from the past and avoiding the big-bang approach of the CSA. In the last eight months parents with four or more children have been using the system. We are now rolling it out gradually, first to new applicants with 2 or more children and then to all new applicants."

The government is investing up to £20m into support services for separated families, after over half of those surveyed in the CSA said they could come to their own arrangements with the right help and support.

For those couples separating, child maintenance may be a consideration for you, if you are confused about how it relates to you, feel free to contact our team to discuss how we can help facilitate this on 01246 555 610.

A recent survey conducted by the online separation service Mydivorcepapers.com has found that couples that are overweight are less likely to file for divorce than their slender counterparts.

Couples whose individual weights sit between 101 and 200lbs - considered 'physically fit' - are three times more likely to end their marriage than those of any other size.

The research found that out of 2,708 divorce cases, 2,054 involved couples in this weight range.

The news has been welcome by previous research, by the Diet Chef that concluded that happy people ‘eat more’; with some 62% of people admit to gaining up to a stone being in a happy relationship.

Overall, these findings show being in a relationship the most common cause of weight gain, beating comfort eating, lack of exercise, and holidays.

The story was originally covered on the Daily Mail website, has been inundated with comments from both sides of the opinion.

Divorce isn’t something that couples always see coming, but if you feel unhappy in your relationship it may be worth you speaking to an independent source, our website has a vast amount of free information and articles available to you, simply click https://www.vineslegal.co.uk, or if you would prefer to speak to someone about your relationship, contact our team today on 01246 555 610.

Last month, the House of Lords have finally recognised the will of British same-sex couples wanting to marry, in one of the most radical pieces of legislation in years.

The bill, which recognises same-sex weddings to take place in England and Wales from next summer, brings to an end, the century old understanding of marriage being solely between a man and a woman.

Lords began by debating the terminology around same sex marriage. An amendment was proposed to seek to refer to same sex marriage as ‘marriage (same sex couples)’, and opposite sex marriage as 'marriage (opposite sex couples)', this went to a vote which resulted in 119 for and 314 against.

Peers then moved on to discuss conscientious objection to same sex marriages and whether a registrar could object to carrying out a same sex marriage. This went to a vote, with 103 for and 278 against.

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill summary:

• around the marriage of same sex couples in England and Wales
• about gender change by married persons and civil partners
• on consular functions in relation to marriage
• for the marriage of armed forces personnel overseas.

The Anglican Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham James said it was “no secret” that the majority of Christian churches and other world faiths “don’t believe same sex marriage accords with their understanding of marriage itself”.

But he added: “Many of us do welcome the social and legal recognition of same sex partnerships and believe our society is a better and healthier one for such recognition.”

If you are a same-sex couple looking to formalise your relationship, feel free to contact our team to discuss how we can help facilitate this on 01246 555610

A woman who took her dodgy ‘puppet master’ ex-husband, after a worldwide hunt to track down his assets is now celebrating with a settlement of £53 million.

Details of the case, released in an anonymous judgement - involves a Russian couple with two children who have lived in England since 2005, having shared their live together for over 17 years.

The wife divorced her businessman husband in Russia in 2009 after spending £1.4m tracking down her husband's assets, which were scattered throughout the world to protect against the settlement.

Announcing her decision, Mrs Justice King said: "The case has been a fantastic charade with the husband a shady puppet master in the background.”

"At fabulous cost - £1.4m and counting - those representing the wife have crossed and re-crossed the globe in an attempt to trace the husband's assets, every penny of which has been acquired during the marriage."

She awarded the woman £53.5m but said she feared the ex-wife could still be forced to spend substantial amounts of money trying to enforce her ex-husband to pay up.

If you are thinking of separation or divorce, you can speak to our friendly team about your situation to get the best practical, legal advice for your situation, call Vines Legal on 01246 555610

Swiss born Elisabeth Kubler-Ross is the well-known psychiatrist that first came up with a way to define the stages that someone goes through when facing death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

These stages are very often found in someone who is going through a divorce on the road to re-invention from a past married life.

These three stages are more commonly known as ‘EX’ syndrome - EXile, EXpress and EXplore, which we hope to explain more in this article, and once you are aware of them, hopefully this will provide some reassurance to how you can overcome each stage:

Exile – This is often the first stage of a divorce where a painful reality sinks in and trust is the first thing to disappear ‘This is not happening to me’ swirls around in your mind. You beat yourself up for every slip-up and often have trouble making the simplest decisions. You tend to cry a lot and deep, raw emotions are only a memory away.

Consider working with a counsellor or join a divorce support group. This stage of EX is often most difficult and you have to start designing a new single you, you need to start trusting others again and realising that you have people around you that deeply love and care.

Express – After time to grieve, you will come back into the sunshine, and start to feel the twinges of anger and begin to obsess about what went wrong and assign blame. Feelings of frustration start to dominate your life and you ask 'why me' and spend countless hours analysing your ex's flaws and feel it your obligation to contact them and explain your point of view. Don't!

In this stage, you need to understand its normal and that you’re allowed to lose control and vent to realise some tension and work towards building a new roadmap for your future.

Explore – Sometimes this is a long time after your separation, when you start to appreciate there is life after divorce and you can build yourself back up and start your new single life.

It’s time to let your ex go, and move onto new leisure activities and dreams that you have kept still throughout your relationship, now is the time to start ‘doing’ what you want.

If you are concerned about staring divorce proceedings and would like to discuss your position with our friendly team in Chesterfield, call Vines Legal on 01246 555 610 for your free consultation.

Millions of people in the UK are stuck in an unhappy marriage but cannot walk away due to the fear of emotional and financial hardship, a recent survey has revealed.

The study, commissioned by lawyers Slater & Gordon, found that out of the 2,000 married couples interviewed, over one fifth felt ‘trapped’ and could not divorce due to the financial insecurities.

Over 25% of Respondents were no longer ‘in love’ with their partners and 15% even go as far to say that they wish they had married someone else!

Top 10 reasons for putting off divorce include:

1. Not sure I have the courage
2. I might regret it
3. I’m hoping things will improve
4. It would have too big an impact on the family/ need to stay together for the kids
5. I wouldn’t be able to sustain myself financially
6. I wouldn’t want to leave my home or have to sell the family house
7. I’m too old to walk away now
8. I would feel guilty leaving them
9. I’m scared to be on my own
10. I’m worried about being lonely

Claire of Vines legal commented on the research saying “Divorce should obviously be the last course of action that couples take, but this survey demonstrates hundreds of couples are staying together regardless of being happy, which is very sad to hear”

If you are experiencing relationship issues and would like to discuss your position with our friendly team in Chesterfield, call Vines Legal on 01246 555 610.

Divorce is well known to come in two variants – amicable or hostile.

We thought that it may be of interest to share our insights into how you can try to ensure a positive resolution to your divorce:

1. Children should stay outside the divorce

It’s sad to say the people that get hurt the most in a divorce are the children. Divorce is a stressful, painful and sad experience for anyone to go through, so why involve children in that unnecessarily?

Children of parents separating should always be kept on the outskirts of the process and not told details of the case, with exception from emphasising that both parties still love them dearly. If you have children together your relationship will have to continue to a certain extent and it pays for you both to stay amicable and agree boundaries for moving forwards.

2.  Choose the right separation path for you

Divorce sometimes gets some bad press from high-flying celebrities and big court cases, but at the end of the day, there are options available to you when you separate.

Divorce in court is just one process you can take; you should always seek legal guidance about the best route for you, your family and your circumstances.

It’s always worth remembering, that at the end of the day, you must have shared happy times in the past and why would you want to wash them away with bitter and hurtful exchanges during the separation process?

If you are concerned about starting divorce proceedings, then please contact our office to make an appointment to discuss your needs with our friendly and professional team on 01246 555 610.

The hot summer weather we’ve been lucky to receive in the UK over the past weeks has also has an adverse effect on relationships, the latest figures have found.

Couples seeking advice on separation have soared to over 69% over the past month, according to figures from the Co-Operative Legal team as well as people seeking help on issues such as child custody solutions and financial maintenance in divorce.

As temperatures soar, so do heated arguments among couples, with the warm weather testing patience of couples who are already struggling to keep their relationships together.

Claire of the Vines Legal team in Chesterfield says “Unfortunately during the past few weeks since experiencing warmer summer weather, we have noticed a strong increase of enquiries from couples looking to separate as the arguments come to the surface”

If you are experiencing relationship issues and would like to discuss your position with our friendly team in Chesterfield, call Vines Legal on 01246 555 610.

Divorce rates among the over 50’s have soared dramatically over the last few years, creating a new generation of ‘silver singletons’ about town.

While the divorce rate drops among all other age groups, the rate of separations between couples in their 50s and 60s continues to rise.

The number of over-60s getting divorced is at its highest on record, with 1 out of 4 divorces registered now in the UK involving couples over the age of 50.

However, the ONS (Office of National Statistics) has found that this increase has little or nothing to do with length of marriage: The most likely explanation for the rise is due to the steadily increasing age at marriage since the late 1960s.

To illustrate this, the average woman who married in 1975 aged 23 would now be reaching 60, after 37 years of marriage, one year earlier than women who married a decade earlier in 1965. The average man who married in 1978 aged 26 would now be reaching 60, after 34 years of marriage, two years earlier than men who married in 1968.

The conclusion is that sadly, those born between 1946 and 1964 will be the first generation for which living alone in old age may be the norm thanks to the rising divorce rate as revealed by marriage guidance authority Relate.

The President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, and the HMCTS London region have released a joint statement in respect of the single Family Court.

England and Wales will continue to be divided into geographical areas judicially led and managed by the Designated Family Judge (subject as at present to the Family Division Liaison Judge and the President of the Family Division).

In the sense in which it is used here the single Family Court refers to the fact that, within the area for which the Designated Family Judge is responsible, the overarching principle will be that all the locations at which hearings take place will be managed and operated as a single Family Court. There will no longer be ‘care centres’ and ‘family hearing centres’.

The three key features of the local single Family Court are that:

1. There will be one central location – the Designated Family Centre – where the Designated Family Judge will be based and which will be the principal location at which hearings take place. There may be one or more Hearing Centres attached to the Designated Family Centre at which hearings can also take place.
2. There will be a ‘single point of entry’, located at the Designated Family Centre, for the issue of process for the entire local single Family Court.
3. There will be a centralised and unified administration, principally based at the Designated Family Centre, for the entire local single Family Court. The key elements of this will be:
   1. a centralised ‘back office’;
   2. a centralised ‘gate-keeping and allocation team’ consisting of a legal adviser (justices’ clerk) and a District Judge: every new case will on receipt be allocated by the team (i) to the appropriate level of judge (judge for this purpose including Magistrate) and (ii) to the appropriate Hearing Centre if the case is not to be heard at the Designated Family Centre;
   3. centralised listing: a single listing system covering all judges and all cases, whether listed at the Designated Family Centre or at a Hearing Centre.

The principles in (2) and (3) will be subject to local variation where circumstances require, so long as the basic principles of the ‘single point of entry’ and a centralised and unified administration for the entire local single Family Court are not compromised.

The report can be read in full here