Civil Partnerships

It may be boring, but tax is one of the two certainties in life, and is often overlooked in family matters. Indeed, we had a matter in court last week with some tricky tax points, and yet, the lawyer for the other side was unaware of the tax issues, and in fact argued that tax was irrelevant! So if a family lawyer representing a client has no knowledge of when tax is an issue to be considered, who else is under the same misapprehension?

To compromise is to give up something you want to keep, in order to obtain a solution to the problem you are facing. By definition, in a compromise situation you lose. This is not to be confused with concessions, which are often called compromises, but they are not. A concession is where you trade something to receive something else in return. Concessions in negotiation are outside the scope of this blog. I will write about concessions separately.

When we experience any unfortunate turn of events, such as a relationship breakdown, we will often turn to our friends for support.

When partners separate, it is a very common practice for the party remaining in the property to change the locks. This might be perfectly acceptable if the property is held in the sole name of the remaining party, but it is unlawful to change the locks on a jointly held property without a court order in place to support such an action.

Following a Supreme Court ruling in June the government has today announced reforms which will allow all couples the option of marriage or a civil partnership.

Since the introduction of same sex marriages the status of Civil Partnerships is being questioned.