Family lawyers deal with a great variety of individuals who need help to guide them through difficult and often complex personal situations. Each set of ­circumstances is unique. In a typical day a family lawyer may grapple with a divorce involving millions of pounds where the husband does not want to reveal the extent of his assets; a couple with children who never married but cohabited for decades and are now separating and arguing over the financial arrangements; or a ­prenuptial agreement between two people who are about to get married. Then there could be preparation for court, including instructing counsel; dealing with an adoption; making sure a divorced or separated parent can see their children; managing ­disputes over child maintenance; or handling complicated international ­issues such as child abduction. Family lawyers also deal with the increasingly complex interrelationships within ‘blended’ families. Family law is extremely ­rewarding – and never dull.

The working culture

As relationships break down people come under ­enormous stress and want to deal with matters quickly. A family lawyer must be able to cope with handling clients who may be at the end of their ­emotional tether and give them often unwelcome ­advice. Perhaps the wife who has come to see you will have much less money after a divorce than she was expecting; a father may see his children less than he would like. A good family lawyer can explain in ­simple terms sometimes complex legal principles and ­procedures. Almost ­certainly, the process will take longer and be more ­upsetting than the client initially expects.

Family lawyers have a far greater impact on the lives of their clients than almost any other type of lawyer. Family lawyers must have a good grasp of the law and of new developments within it.

Skills required

Family lawyers need to be good with people and ­excellent listeners who can empathise with people’s problems. They must also like a fast-paced, ­challenging environment.

Recent developments

Cohabitation is one area in which there may be ­enormous changes in the law in the next few years. Fewer people are getting married as couples choose to live ­together on a long-term basis. However, people are not always clear about the consequences of cohabitation, leading to problems if the couple separates.

There is no such thing legally as a ‘common law wife’. At present, if a couple cohabits, has children and then separates, the partner who is the main ­breadwinner in the home will only have to pay for the children’s maintenance. Very often it is the father who is the main breadwinner and the mother has given up work in order to look after the children. In a marriage, when a couple divorce, the husband will usually pay the wife a maintenance payment. But in a cohabitation the father will not have to pay ­maintenance to the mother of the children. This will be the case even if the mother is looking after small children full time and cannot work outside the home.

The Law Commission published a report on ­cohabitation last year after reviewing several issues around couples who live together but have not married or formed civil partnerships. The report reviewed the way property should be transferred when a couple ­separates, whether one partner should pay the other a periodic payment and whether, where a cohabitant dies without a will, the surviving partner should have automatic rights to inherit. The law currently gives ­surviving spouses an automatic inheritance in such ­circumstances, but not cohabitants.

The Law Commission did not suggest cohabiting couples get the same rights as married couples, but concluded they should be able to make a financial claim if they break up. Couples without children should have lived together for at least two years for them to be able to make a financial claim. Any ­compensation would be based on the contribution to the relationship, and couples would be able to opt out.

To date, Parliament has not accepted the ­recommendations, but it is an issue that is likely to be on the political agenda again soon.

There are also signs that prenuptial agreements may soon become legally binding. The Law Commission is planning to examine the enforceability of agreements made between spouses or civil partners concerning their property and finances. Prenuptial agreements are not currently enforceable in the event of divorce or the dissolution of a civil partnership. The court may, ­however, consider any such agreement in determining what financial arrangements between the separating couple are appropriate.

The Law Commission can only recommend that the law be changed; it is up to Parliament to do so. ­However, a family lawyer must be aware of potential changes in the law in order to advise clients properly. The advice of a family lawyer has a day-to-day impact on a client’s life. This is what makes family law so ­challenging and so interesting.

Barbara Reeves, partner, Dina Shiloh, trainee, Mishcon de Reya