Divorce solicitors and family law specialists at Keystone Law

Whatever the circumstances, family breakdown is never easy and always stressful. Cognisant advice from a family lawyer will make a world of difference and ensure the process is completed as quickly and painlessly as possible. At a difficult time, calm, clear and understanding advice is particularly welcome.

Our family and divorce law services

Our team of family and divorce solicitors will come up with bespoke solutions for individuals on pre-nuptial considerations as well as divorce and family settlement issues. From negotiation skills to an expert understanding of the benefits of mediation, Keystone’s family and divorce lawyers are constructive, meticulous and extremely professional. We deal with all areas of family law, including financial matters and child arrangements.

Who do we advise?

The team advises people from all walks of life, including high-net-worth individuals, celebrities and any other individuals needing help with a family matter. Our family lawyers often support parents with child arrangements such as relocation or arrangements after divorce. Some of the cases we have advised on have also involved finances or assets based in other jurisdictions.

Why choose our family and divorce team?

We have a family and divorce law specialist for every kind of issue, whether it be drafting a pre- or post-nuptial agreement or starting divorce proceedings. Our family law experts work tirelessly to help clients to achieve the best possible outcome both financially and emotionally. Not only this, but they are some of the best in their field, proven by their rankings in leading legal directory The Legal 500. The directory highlights them as “a team of some of the best and most experienced family law solicitors around”.

For further information or to discuss a family or divorce matter, please telephone 020 3319 3700 or click here to email us.

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Keynote

The impact of the VAT charge on school fees for separating families

Gianna Lisiecki

13 November 2024

Keynote

Agreeing child arrangements for the Christmas and New Year period

Emma Harte

25 October 2024

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One of the significant strengths is their unwavering calmness and ability to neutralise very contentious issues. They have always remained fair and will seek out specialist opinions externally if they feel an area needs the opinion of others.

Legal 500 2025
The firm were very professional, keeping me updated on all aspects of my case. They helped me to understand each process clearly and guided me on what to expect next.

Legal 500 2024

Arbitration

Our team of arbitration specialists is available for couples in the process of a separation but who simply cannot come to a mutual agreement on the allocation of assets but who are anxious to avoid going through the courts. This process of alternative dispute resolution is completely confidential and would be helpful to couples who have commercially sensitive assets or who could potentially attract media attention. Our team of qualified arbitrators seek to resolve any disputes with their clients’ best interests in mind and will deal with all cases with the sensitivity that they require.

Child abduction and relocation

Any case involving children deserves the upmost care. Our advisors are well versed to helping a parent in difficult cases relating to their children including when a child is taken out of a country by a family member without permission; where applications are made by one parent to move to another part of the UK or abroad; or any other child related matters.

Child arrangements

Child arrangements are always a difficult area to agree during the process of a break down. If mediation and counselling methods have failed to help in moving towards an agreement, our team of experts is available to guide clients through the courts process.

Cohabitation contracts

We understand that even in the event that a marriage break-down is relatively cordial there may still be points of contention where the couple simply cannot come to an agreement vis-à-vis a financial allocation or the children. We always recommend involving a solicitor when going through a mediation process so that legal advice can be provided as the sessions progress, in order to save any further disagreements down the line.

Collaborative law

In the event of a marriage breakdown our dedicated matrimonial experts are on hand to ease the process. We are trained in alternative dispute resolution and treat each case as sensitively as required. One form of legal separation is collaborative law which involves couples working with their solicitors in an honest and respectful way to ensure that the process of agreeing a win-win solution to the family’s problems is as painless as possible. We understand that going down the collaborative law route is not for everybody but for those who do enter the process the success rate is high at around 85%.

Divorce

Our expert team understands the emotional distress that can be caused to our clients during the divorce process. We are on hand to sensitively guide individuals through the administrative process required to attain the final decree of divorce: the decree absolute. It is important to note that a divorce is an entirely separate process to agreeing what is going to happen in regards to finances, property and children and these must not be confused.

Financial settlement

The notion of divorce conjures many emotions and one of the most common is financial anxiety. Our lawyers understand the stresses that a divorce may have on a person’s psyche when they are unsure of income, debts and where they will live. We work hand in hand with individuals to agree a settlement that best suits the family through alternative dispute resolution including collaborative law, mediation and arbitration. If the aforementioned alternative options are not successful we are able to represent our clients in court.

Jurisdictional issues – Financial

Seeking a mutually acceptable financial settlement can be a painful, expensive and lengthy process; these are multiplied considerably when jurisdictional issues are at hand. Our team of experts are available to guide clients through these testing times. We regularly deal with complex multi-jurisdictional matters following a marriage break down and guide our clients on how to enforce settlements in the UK and abroad including whereby the couple was divorced abroad and wants to enforce agreements in the UK; where one of the parties lives or works abroad; where there are assets abroad; and any other matters that require specialist legal advice.

Mediation

Non-married couples

Whilst non-married couples do not have the same protection as married couples in the event of a break up there is some legal help available where they have children or not. We guide couples with children through processes to secure fair child arrangements in relation to where the child lives through to financial provisions for the child. We also work with clients who are disputing ownership of land where their primary residence is in the sole name of their ex-partner but where they have made significant contributions or the property was referred to as their joint home. Separation is always difficult but this is made harder in a legal sense if there are no binding contracts or agreements; this is a very specialist area and requires expert knowledge that our team is able to provide.

Personal protection

Unfortunately, in the event of a separation sometimes one party may feel threatened. Our sensitive experts are experienced in all matters of personal protection which may involve attaining the likes of a non-molestation order or an occupation order. These types of orders require legal advice and our team is always on hand to protect the safety of our clients.

Pre- and post-nuptial agreements

We understand that couples find pre- and post- nuptial agreements unromantic and we work with them to make the process seem as natural as possible. After all, there is no better time to agree the future, in the event of a break up, than when both individuals simply want the best for one and other. These agreements are the best insurance for an amicable future as they occur before any personal agendas creep in following the relationship breakdown.

Surrogacy

Surrogacy can be a complex journey, but our team of family solicitors are here to simplify the process. Whether you’re embarking on an international or domestic surrogacy arrangement, our surrogacy experts are equipped to guide you through every legal step required to secure full parental rights for your child. Our team will ensure you’re supported from the planning phase right through to after the birth of your child.

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Advised a high-profile wife in proceedings against her high-profile husband, both in the music industry. The case involved three music publishing companies and three London properties.
Advised a UK leading psychiatrist in a civil partnership dealing with a drug-addicted opponent acting in financial and children matters.
Advised a mother on the implementation of a child arrangements order.
Advised two ladies in a same-sex relationship on the legal implications of using an unknown sperm donor, having received fertility treatment from a clinic abroad and therefore not HFEA regulated.
Advised a fertility clinic on their patient information documents, internal consent forms and operating procedures relating to surrogacy patients.
Secured the return of children from this jurisdiction for a celebrity father to California following his wife’s decision to divorce him shortly following an agreed move to the UK on a trial basis (High Court Order following contested trial).
Acted for client in divorce and financial proceedings, reaching financial agreement which provided for the client to achieve a clean break (in circumstances where spousal maintenance was sought by her husband) and to retain the former matrimonial home.
Acted for Mrs L in obtaining a freezing injunction on the proceeds of sale of her former husband’s Spanish property to ensure compliance with a school fees order
Acted for Mr M defending an application for a non-molestation order and appealing a decision by a district judge to uphold an ex parte non-molestation order rather than accept undertakings from the client.
Assisted Mr M in obtaining a downwards variation of spousal maintenance from c£150,000 per annum to c£60,000 per annum
Represented a wife in an extremely acrimonious divorce and financial remedy proceedings during which she discovered that the husband had been leading a double life. Not only did he have a wife and a 17-year-old daughter living in London but, unbeknown to them, he also had four-year-old twin sons and a new partner in Birmingham.
Advised the less wealthy party in respect of entering into a pre-nuptial agreement.
Represented the husband in divorce and financial proceedings and threatened Family Law Act 1996 proceedings to evict him from the parties’ family home which was owned by his father in his sole name.
Acted for the trust of a well-known sportsman who was being pursued under Schedule 1 of the Children Act by his ex-partner on behalf of their two young children.
Acted for the aristocratic wife in a case which involved a significant amount of inherited real property which had to remain within the family, causing issues of liquidity.
Acted for the wife in urgent proceedings brought in the English court in order to secure jurisdiction where the husband was French and the wife was Swedish.
Acted for the wife of a man with multiple personality disorders intent on destroying all value to the family home in Holland Park via poor property development work.
Acted for Mr R in a multijurisdictional matter in which the parties were contesting ownership of the family business, which generated around £3m per annum.
Acted for the father in a Schedule 1 case in which the mother pursued a claim for capital and income. She also appealed the child maintenance settlement resulting in a two-day final tribunal appeal at which the parties were fully represented by counsel.
Drafted an urgent co-habitation agreement for a well-known TV presenter.
Acted for a celebrity in respect of the breakdown of her relationship with another celebrity and obtained necessary confidentiality clauses.

Please note: The experience list above features work carried out by lawyers who now work at Keystone Law however this work may have been completed prior to them joining the firm.