Marriage, relationships & families

Does anyone have any experience of becoming a legal guardian? Background, we have a friend of the family, who is currently 14. Her mum is a single parent (with sole custody), and she has an older brother who is currently 20 and in full-time education. The only other family she has in the UK is her biological father, who…

Traditionally I’ve bought gifts for nieces and nephews. However over the last few years we’ve gone from only having a few to having 10 under the age of 10 and since there are a glut of birthdays between now and Christmas the shopping is getting to be too much (and parents are always grumbling about how much stuff the kids…

I submitted an online divorce application via the government website recently after initial advice from a solicitor. My wife and I split several weeks ago, and after l left the marital home, she put the house up for sale. Immediately, an offer was made, which both of us accepted. I am aware that as one of the early stages…

Hi all, I'm worried sick about my dad and thought it worth asking if anyone knows of further help options for him. Long story short, after ongoing balance issues and some other symptoms, my dad had various tests, and was diagnosed with Parkinson's in March this year. At that point, it was so early that the MRI came back…

As the title says..This is a married couple who are both sure the marriage is over and who both want to start new lives and have no dependents. They are capable of jointly completing the online Divorce application and meet the eligibility criteria and both willing to sign the application. They also have fully discussed and…

Hi I find that I am in the position of having to create an "Interest in Possessions Trust" ("IPT") - I am the trustee, and an elderly relative is the beneficiary. My relative has the right to all income from the Trust, but not to any of the capital, so from what I gather, an IPT is appropriate. However, trying to find…

Hi there, We are coming to the end of sorting out my parents’ estate, and there is a final amount of money that needs to be divided between me and my sister. There is £5000 pounds to be split 50/50 between us. However, I have some expenses I have incurred against the estate amounting to £1000. Can someone help us out here…

This post is taking a lot of courage so please be kind. I have been married for 17 years now and I would say at least the last 10 years have been unhappy. My husband will not hug or even talk to me, he just moans and with me being a softie I just take it all in. My home life is a really unhappy one, I actually can't wait…

My 83 year old mother in law has been diagnosed with spinal stenosis and needs an urgent operation. The wait on the NHS is over a year and she cannot wait that long so has looked at the option of going private. However, the cost is £20,000 and she can't afford the outlay in full, but my wife and I are in a fortunate…

Currently trying to sort out the complete mess that is my parents finances and an interesting question has arisen. They are of a generation where the husband looked after everything on the financial side. Their main bank account was always his account, although this has in more recent years been converted to a joint…

I am 40 years old and completely friendless. I haven't had friends since leaving secondary school and even they weren't 'good' friends so there's no one I would really want to get back in touch with. I have had acquaintances etc when I've worked who I get on well with but since having to give up work when my youngest was…

Some advice please folks? My mum is a Health and Wealth LPA for my dad who has dementia and Alzheimer's diagnoses but no assessment as yet of his Mental Capacity. Myself and one of my sisters are also Health and Wealth LPAs for both parents. My dad has 2 pensions which make him a 40% tax payer. My mum is a non-taxpayer. I…

Hey guys, Story starts with my Dad being an alcoholic. Me, my Mum and my Dad all lived together until my Mum had enough. Whilst my dad was never violent he was vile with the mental abuse he gave to my mum. So one day recently my mum had enough understandably. She called the Police and got him arrested and now obviously…

A few years ago I moved into my partners house. Around 18 months later had a baby. Now have another baby together. We have a bit of a funny relationship in a way, I feel. Especially financially. No joint bank account, bills all in his name and I transfer x amount to him each month. Around Jan 2020 we had his house valued.…

Hi, I’ve just applied for my conditional order. We’ve only got one asset that we’d like to divide via a financial order and that’s the house 55/45. Ill hopefully be brought out, otherwise it’ll go on the market. Is the procedure to wait for the conditional order, then get the financial order drafted by a professional (it’s…

Not sure why Im posting, I guess Im after some advice, who I can contact about it or if anything I can do. Lately my mum seems to be getting days of the week mixed up, dont know why, its only been say last month for example I texted her yesterday to say id be home on Monday and we could have so and so for tea, she replied…

We want to word our wills so that our assets pass to each other and subsequently pass to our natural children but not to children of any new relationship that the surviving partner might enter into. Has anyone done this ? Could you supply me the wording ?

I'm probably posting a little prematurely regarding this but I want to make the right decision and do whats best. I lost touch with my dad about 15 years ago after many years of only receiving birthday and Christmas cards. I have tried to find him (he moved) and his brothers family without any luck. A couple of days ago I…

Hi all - My wife had Power of Attorney over her mother's affairs until last weekend when she sadly passed away. What is the position of this responsibility now? In short, can she legally still access her mothers banks accounts?

I am trying to complete a Finance LPA and a Health LPA. I have the same problem with both.I am the donor. My wife is the attorney. If she is not fit, then my three adult children take over as replacement attorneys. I have written an instruction allowing them to take some decisions jointly and some severely. So far so good.…