EU nationals and their family members can apply to remain in the UK under the new EU Settlement Scheme.
The scheme will open fully from 30th March 2019 and there will be no fee payable by those who have permanent residence or indefinite leave to enter or remain in the UK. One can still make an application now and pay £65, which will be refunded thereafter.
If an application is successful, you will acquire “Settled Status” or “Pre-settled Status”. You will acquire settled status if you have been living in the UK by 31st December 2020 and for a continuous period of 5 years. If you have not been living in the UK for a continuous period of 5 years, you will acquire pre-settled status after which you can apply for “settle status” after you have accumulated a period of 5 years.
It is important that you are aware of the deadline for making an application within the scheme which is 30th June 2021. However, if the UK leave the EU without a deal, the deadline for the application is 31st December 2020.
The application process has been simplified; you will be able to apply online using an Android form, which will allow you to scan documents in support of your case and identity documents.
If you require further information on this process, please contact our office on 0116 340 0094 for further advice.
It may sound strange to talk about a “good divorce” but with help from Resolution, many family lawyers have changed the culture and conversation around divorce to a more conciliatory and child focused approach.
In the past few years, there have been some very big cases in divorce.
Two of the cases were:
1. Owen v Owen, where the Supreme Court found Mrs Owen was not entitled to a divorce as she had not provided whole evidence that her husband had behaved in such a way, that it was unreasonable for her to be expected to remain married to him.
2. VW and BH, a recent case where the judge criticised the husband who cheated on his wife for contesting a divorce in an ‘awful case’. It appears the husband was somewhat dishonest and used the proceedings as a way to torment the wife.
Under the English law, if one party (the Petitioner) wishes to divorce within 5 years of separation and the other party does not consent to the divorce, the Petitioner needs to lay blame for the marriage break down at the feet of the other spouse. The Petitioner must the provide evidence to support their case. This adversarial method of divorce can be harmful to both parties and any children involved as it prolongs the pain of separation and creates a toxic atmosphere.
Resolution, with the backing of many family lawyers have called for ‘no fault divorce’. No fault divorce can be as simple as one party giving notice that they believe the marriage has broken down. If they still feel this way after a short period of time, the divorce can be finalised. This method takes the acrimony out of divorce and enables both parties to focus on what is important; moving on with their lives and being parenting partners to the children.
We have linked below Resolution’s video to a good divorce. If you are considering divorce or have recently been divorced, this video may give you some helpful tips: https://vimeo.com/303651565
At AGR Law, we believe in taking a non-confrontational approach to divorce and matters relating to children. We assist our clients in meeting their objectives in the most pain-free and stress-free way possible. Contact us to book a consultation on 0116 340 0094
This case-study looks at some of the limitations of the Child Arrangements Order.
I was approached by a child and the lady who cared for him. This lady, the caring mother (CM) was in a relationship with the child’s father who died leaving a defective will. The child’s birth mother (BM) did not have a close relationship with the child and the child wished to stay in the care of the CM.
The problem arose because a Grant of Probate required signing by a person with parental responsibility. With the father deceased, the only person with parental responsibility was the BM. The BM refused to sign the papers as she did not agree with the child drawing down the funds on the estate. Unfortunately the BM did not understand that if the Grant did not take place, assets from the estate would be lost.
As the child was soon to turn 16 years-old, an emergency application for a Child Arrangements Order needed to be made in order to grant the CM parental responsibility.
The limitations were:
1) no Section 8 order can be made for a child 16 years-old or older; a Child Arrangements Order is a section 8 order;
2) a section 8 order ceases when a child turns 16 years-old; and
3) the only way the CM could obtain parental responsibility and therefore sign the Grant of Probate was for the courts to order Child Arrangements Order – “living with”. I had hoped to obtain the order on consent but the BM objected to the order, even though the child had elected to remain living with the CM after the father’s death.
Deadlines were very close as the BM was on holiday at the time of the 1st hearing. Thankfully the court was able to squeeze the 2nd hearing in just days before the child’s 16th birthday.
Orders were made granting the CM a Child Arrangements Order – “living with”, thus giving her parental responsibility. The orders were specifically made to last until the child’s 18th birthday, to ensure all papers could be dealt with, including any other support the child needed until becoming an adult. The Grant of Probate was successful. My client and the child were very happy.
Written by Gina Samuel-Richards, Solicitor Director
AGR Law has recently been awarded a Legal Aid contract in Family Law. This means we can now accommodate clients whose case come within the Scope of Legal Aid and who meet the MEANS and MERITS assessments.
By way of example, the following cases will generally fall within the Scope for Legal Aid:
1. Public Law Children Matters (Care cases) will automatically fall within the Scope. There will be no requirement to undertake a MEANS assessment, unless one is applying to vary or discharge an existing Care Order (at which point a client’s Income and Capital means will be tested).
2. Private Law Family & Children matters, which include Family Law injunctions, divorce, matrimonial finances & Children Matters will fall within Scope if a client has suffered domestic abuse and can provide supporting evidence.
With over 10 years in Family & Children Law and Legal Aid work, and the benefit of a Family Law Specialist, at AGR Law, we have expertise to offer a well-rounded excellent service to all our privately paying and publicly funded clients.
It might not be for you, but you might know someone who could benefit from our family law services. If so, we can be contacted on 0116 340 0094 or hello@agrlaw.co.uk
For emergency domestic abuse and other matters, we can be contacted on 0744 902 1970
1. Can you afford to manage your case through the whole legal process without legal representation?
2. Can you afford to lose your case due to lack of compliance with the correct legal procedures; something you could have perhaps avoided by seeking the right legal advice?
You may choose to commence or defend legal proceedings brought against you without legal representation for various reasons, for example; affordability of legal costs, self-confidence to manage without legal representation or experience in dealing with previous legal proceedings or other personal choice.
Whatever your reason, it is imperative to familiarise yourself with the law, rules, practice directions and procedures relevant to your case. Quite often, the court will be lenient by making allowances to Litigants in Person (LiPs) in relation to the hearings or case management. However, the court will still expect you to maintain an acceptable level of compliance with the rules; for example, complying with directions set by the court and vital rules and procedures relevant to your case.
In a new 2018 case of Barton v Wright Hall, the UK Supreme Court, albeit by a narrow majority has decided that “lack of representation will not usually justify applying to LiPs a lower standard of compliance with rules or orders of the court.” In this case, Mr Barton’s claim was invalid, having been served on his opponent via opponent’s solicitor, by email. He had failed to check whether his opponent’s solicitor could accept service by e-mail, which is required by Civil Procedure Rules. Unfortunately, the court could not validate his claim, which had expired the following day, without effective service.
If legal action you intend to bring or brought against you is of great significance, it is worth having a solicitor guide you, even if at first instance. At AGR Law, we do offer unbundled services (depending on the nature of your case), to individuals who cannot afford to engage a solicitor fully on retainer. Unbundled Services will allow you to only pay a solicitor to deal with aspects of your case that you cannot manage or that demand legal assistance.
The number of refused applications for British Citizenship has risen in recent years. In this post Ruth Goward of AGR Law discusses some of the potential issues around this.
Although the Home Office reported an increase in number of those granted British Citizenship, the number of refused or withdrawn applications rose by 105% (from 7,441 to 14,558.).
The Home Office states an increase in the rate of refusal or withdrawn application is attributable to the introduction of ‘enhanced checks on cases requiring higher levels of assurance in April 2015, e.g. those cases with previous asylum refusals and cases with adverse immigration histories.’ National statistic on citizenship April – June 2016
We also cannot underestimate the decrease in grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain with statistics showing 241,200 grants in 2010, 104,100 in 2014 and 89,900 in 2015, which has consequently reduced the number of people eligible to apply for citizenship.
Prior to policy guidance on good character which is applicable to all decisions taken on or after 11th December 2014, only serious contraventions such as criminal offences would count towards good character. The scope on good character requirement has widened with the introduction of policy guidance under Chapter 8 Annex D on good character requirement.
Good character is of course not defined within the British Nationality Act 1981, which means there is no statutory guidance as to how this good character requirement should be interpreted or applied.
According to the guidance, the good character requirement will generally apply to anybody over 10 years old who applies for naturalisation or registration as a British citizen. The Home Secretary would not consider a person to be of good character if there is information to suggest; criminality to include involvement in terrorism, war crimes, crime against humanity and so forth, lack of financial soundness, notoriety, deliberate dishonesty or deception in dealings with the UK Government, assisting in the evasion of immigration control, previous deprivation of citizenship and so on.
We have of course encountered various citizenship applications refused on the good character requirement in relation to the applicants’ previous immigration histories; for example, although the applicant may have been residing in the UK lawfully during the qualifying period (for example 5 years of ILR plus a further 12 months), the Home Secretary may refuse to grant the application if the applicant was in contravention of immigration rules within 10 years preceding their application for British Citizenship. The refusal is likely as immigration offences such as working illegally and harbouring other immigration offenders, should be considered under the good character requirement and not residence.