Friday, March 04, 2011

Was 2010 a good year?


The Financial year in review by Money Co UK makes interesting reading. Have a look at the year's financial highs and lows. It might make you feel a bit better about things... so many crises and we're still going!

Here's a few I picked out:

1. Ebay made a lot of money.
2. Harry Potter's publisher's profits dropped.
3. UK refused to bail out other EC members.
4. Twitter secured huge funding, and of course...
5. The election and
6. The Royal Proposal

It is interesting to review the previous 12 months when looking forward to this year.

There are a lot of changes happening in Family Law:

1. Couples will need to go for a Mediation Assessment before issuing Court Proceedings (unless they fulfill the exception criteria)
2. New Family Proceedings Rules come into effect in April
3. Alternative Business Structures will be available from October - opening up ownership of law firms to non lawyers - COOP are very interested - they already have a bank and funeral service - why not offer a will, conveyancing and a divorce too?
4. Withdrawal of Legal Aid in November, for all cases except those with domestic violence, forced marriage or a risk of your children being taken into care.

So coupled with a huge change in the procedure it is predicted that there will be a large increase in the litigant in person as well as substantial court closures and cut backs.

My advice to anyone contemplating divorce and separation is to act now ahead of all changes. Why?

1. So much is changing there are bound to be issues.
2. If you qualify for Public Funding you need to apply while it is still available and
3. Procrastination is the enemy of the soul...

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