Marriage, relationships & families

I usually have some sort of sewing related title to my threads. My diaries of how I cope, or don't cope with my unusual life. But I have lost my Sewing Mojo at the moment. Moving forward with a two year old, a four year old, a 12 year old, and four Adults who still take up my time I doubt this single Granny is going to…

Hello Our childminder, who looks after our child after school, has decided to leave the register because she only looks after children who are over the age of 8. We spend about £80 per month for the after-school care fees, and use childcare vouchers to pay. We are trying to work out whether we would save more money by…

I am in the early stages of divorce with my partner and are working on the consent order. Things are mostly amicable, there's no fault, and we are using a fixed fee service for this rather than using individual solicitors. Of course, we've ran into a stumbling block regarding money. Our family home is worth an estimated…

I’m looking for some advice regarding an elderly lady who may soon need to move permanently into a nursing home. Over the past year she has been in and out of hospital and has recently been transferred to a temporary nursing home for assessment. We are close friends and effectively the nearest thing she has to family,…

Hi all, I got divorced last year and the house has finally sold recently. I’m currently renting with my new partner, getting towards retirement age and need to buy something with my share of the equity ideally. My issue is that my matrimonial solicitors have charged me £11K for their services when their initial estimate…

About to buy a house with my partner. We are engaged and will marry (hopefully) within the next year. I have two children from a previous relationship, partner has none. Joint tenants or tenants in common? Or does this matter? Do we just draw up what we want to happen in a will? Thanks in advance.

This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks... My in-laws have a mountain of debt in mortgages on three properties. My father-in-law quit his well-paid job after burning out, the bills piled up and now they’re skint. I've inherited some money, and my wife wants me to lend her parents £20,000 to see them through selling…

Hi all, Both my parents are in the process of doing health & welfare and financial legal power of attorney with me being the sole attorney on each one. When checking the status of each one yesterday all four LPA documents (2 each) said "Received" but today the status of the two LPA documents for mum had now changed to…

Hi everyone, I am currently completing my own Property and Financial Affairs LPA using the online service. I’ve come across the debate regarding "Standard Clause X" (the wording that allows attorneys to use Discretionary Investment Management services). I know the OPG updated their guidance in 2022 saying this clause is no…

Hi I will soon need to find a Care Home for my Dad who has Dementia. He will be self funding, however if requested my local Social Services will still find a home for him and negotiate the weekly rate with them, for a setup fee of £450. This initially sounds like a lot, but it isn't if they can negotiate a fee which is…

Hi, not sure if anyone would know the answer but since I’ve put my car finance claim in I’ve gotten married. Would this affect my claim and if I’m due any compensation would that also be affected?

We are a couple in our seventies, with no children and no close living relatives. None of our friends have the degree of trust or familiarity that we would feel comfortable with for a Power of Attorney (PoA). In Scotland, there are three types of PoA: continuing (financial) PoA for money and property, welfare PoA for…

Hi, I have a 6 month match.com subscription. Ive cancelled the subscription. How can I stop my profile from showing on Match!? Ive emailed Match twice and they havnt replied. Theres no option to deactivate account, or hide me in search or anything like that. I dont want to delete my account, just hide it! Thanks

I am a sngle, divorced and retired teacher. Currently I cannot nominate anyone for my surviving spouse pension. I am thinking of having a Civil Partnership with my platonic friend who is also a retired teacher. We would then nominate each other as partners for the surviving spouse pension. Any advice or ideas? We both have…

So basically I have a 14 year daughter, she lives with her mother and stepfather and has done for about 9 years. I work away and when I'm home she used to spend alternative weekends and occasional days during the week and usually parts of the schools holidays with me. I recently sold my house last year and moved in with my…

After 12 months of being separated from my wife I am wanting to get a divorce over and done with. We have no financial ties, a minimal amount of debt (any debt with false claims with HMRC have been split between us already) and no assets (says a lot for 18 years!). I know I can get divorced online now easily through the…

My partner and I recently moved in together, and we decided we only needed one car between us as I work from home and he commutes via train. He bought a car on finance before we got together, and has 2.5 years left of the agreement. I had an old banger of which the battery kept dying, so I scrapped mine and he added me to…

Looking for low cost legal divorce advice 

I've been with my partner for about 25 years and we have a grown up child between us who lives away. He moved into my house after our child was born and since then we've moved house twice. Before I fell pregnant I owned my own house and had a lodger to help with the mortgage. He owned his own flat that was mortgaged. After…

TL;DR: In a particularly messy divorce where there is a big financial disparity between ex-partners, how do you ensure that the other side have disclosed all financial records? How do you know/prove they have disclosed everything? Background: Close family member (who is not financially-savvy) is going through a nasty…