Laura Hughes

Laura advises on complex Children Act disputes involving allegations of domestic abuse, including emotional harm to both parent and child, and safeguarding concerns that may require expert evidence and fact‑finding hearings within proceedings. She is equally experienced in managing high‑conflict disputes relating to childcare arrangements following separation, focusing on the best interests of the child.

• Advised a parent with complex mental health diagnoses where there was disputed evidence within court proceedings as to the true source of emotional harm to their children, involving psychiatric evidence, a children’s Guardian, and cross-jurisdictional considerations.
• Regularly manages cases where a parent has suffered years of coercive control and isolation, ensuring that future child arrangements are limited enough to account for the risk and impact upon the child’s experiences as they develop into adulthood.
• Advised a parent in proceedings where the spouse had falsely alleged domestic abuse, securing a space in a refuge and relocating their child under false pretences, securing findings of alienation and the need for urgent reunification.
• Supporting a parent across more than a decade of intermittent litigation to eventually secure a no contact order in relation to the other parent who had chronic alcohol addiction problems.
• Supports the negotiation and drafting of parenting agreements and consent orders outside of court wherever possible by regularly managing general disputed child arrangement matters in correspondence or via Non-Court Dispute Resolution. Also provides support behind the scenes when parties are in mediation or trying to reach a direct agreement.
• Supports parents when the other seeks to relocate a child from their home base and school either to a different part of England or internationally, ensuring that the best interests of the child are placed paramount.

Laura advises on international family law disputes where parties have connections to multiple jurisdictions, working with foreign lawyers to assess forum advantages and secure financial outcomes across borders.

• Advises on cases with international assets, property, and business requiring valuation and consideration of liquidity, tax, and enforceability.
• Advised a party who was resident outside the jurisdiction but domiciled in England & Wales and their ex-wife and children and primary asset base were in England.
• Advised an unmarried parent on pursuing ‘de facto marriage’ claims in Australia where both parties were resident in England but both were Australian citizens and the primary wealth was in Australia, where there claims available were significantly more advantageous than claims available than in England.
• Advised a parent resisting their ex seeking to return their children ‘home’ upon separation when they were born and had spent almost a decade being raised in England and the whole family were dual nationality.
• Supported a separated parent who had been duped into a holiday in one of the Emirati countries so the children could spend time with their other parent to then have a travel ban placed on their children, thus also stopping the parents’ ability to return ‘home’ too. Obtained urgent cross-jurisdictional opinion to support local advice.

Laura advises clients on financial remedy disputes involving short and long marriages cases with complex asset tracing and issues of non-disclosure, arguments over non-matrimonial property, post-separation accrual, and maintenance where there are significant income disparities.

• Advises clients facing multiple contested litigations at once (finances, children, and sometimes Family Law Act), accounting for the interplay between them all, and ensuring best positioning and long-term outcomes.
• Advised a spouse who had accrued considerable wealth post-separation on the protection of the same under the categorisation of non-matrimonial wealth.
• Represented a spouse who having entered into a consent order then discovered her husband had sold his business interest for a multi-million-pound figure despite disclosing it as having a £0 valuation to the court. Set aside the order and had it reheard to ensure she obtained her fair share.
• Advised a spouse seeking to vary downwards spousal maintenance obligations following a negative change in their circumstances which make their liability to periodical payments no longer viable.
• Defending or pursuing claims under Schedule 1 (unmarried parents where one has wealth) to ensure suitable housing and capital provision for the party’s child.
• Advised parties with modest resources on the best way to establish two commensurate homes for their family, maximising cash flow and planning for retirement.
• Advised on a case where the opponent has been a non-discloser, proving adverse inferences should be drawn during originating proceedings to ensure the client secured as much accessible wealth as possible to offset against this.
• Managing financial settlements within the confines of a spouse subject to the realities of cultural pressures, to ensure optimum provision and prioritising their desire for a pragmatic outcome over legal rights.
• Successfully disputed malicious third-party intervenor claim (by parents-in-law) and secured a costs order against them.
• Advised a spouse who had previously entered into an unfair pre-nuptial agreement, and soon after marriage discovered the other spouse had misrepresented her monogamy. Thereafter sought to annul the marriage and mitigate against the spouse’s claims under the pre-nup, given that the marriage would not have progressed had the spouse been aware of the adultery.

Recognised by The Legal 500 for Family 2018–2026

Recognised by Doyles as a Leading Family Lawyer, Surrey 2025 and 2026

City Wealth Future Leaders Senior Associate of the Year 2021 – Silver

Written articles for The New Law Journal

Member of Resolution

Co-Chair of The Association of Women Solicitors, Surrey

Former Committee Member and Treasurer for YRes Surrey