Why would my partner choose a FAMILY solicitor from ANOTHER town?

Thrugelmir

Family law solicitors work in a non confrontational manner. They promote the use of mediation to resolve differences and reach compromises between the parties involved.  Their aim is to avoid matters going to court if at all possible. Which is beneficial to the parties as legal costs can quickly spiral and mount up. 

elsien

Stev23 said:

Could it be that my partner wants to take are 30 yo autistic child and move town?

They don’t need a solicitor to do that. Nothing stopping them from just going. 

Savvy_Sue

Why not ASK THEM? 

If you won't communicate directly, I can understand why they might feel the need for a solicitor....

Jude57

Family Law is a heading that covers family issues, things like divorce, child arrangements, adoption, visitation, financial settlements, guardianship and so on.

Why your partner chose a solicitor in another town is really hard to know for certain if you don't ask them or if they don't want to tell you. It could be for lots of reasons, but it's probably something as simple as your partner wanted an appointment quickly and that solicitor could see him straight away but the solicitors in your home town had no appointments available for a longer time.

Robinson2s

Location of solicitor makes no difference. The access to your child is more important. Your partner cannot simply move the child far away without ensuring proper contact is maintained and courts treat this harshly. It’s a form of child abuse where one parent punishes the other parent through the child. 

Ms_Chocaholic

Robinson2s said:

Location of solicitor makes no difference. The access to your child is more important. Your partner cannot simply move the child far away without ensuring proper contact is maintained and courts treat this harshly. It’s a form of child abuse where one parent punishes the other parent through the child. 

@Robinson2s The children referred to are adults - in their 30s/40s apparently

TBagpuss

A family solicitor deals with things such as separation, divorce, financial settlements, arrangements for children. In some cases they may have additional expertise in areas such education / mental health.

The fact that they are in a different town is irrelevant. Your partner may have had someone recommended to them , they may have shopped around on price, they may have made enquiries with solicitors in your hometown and struggled to find one (for instance due to conflicts of interest) or had a friend advise against using the more local firm for some reason. 
Maybe they picked someone who is an accredited specialist. Maybe they just googled and picked the top ad rather than the geographically closest. Maybe they know someone who works for the local solicitors and prefer to go further afield for privacy.

It won't make any difference to the process of divorce.

If they want to move, and if they want your autistic child to move with them, they can fo those thing whatever solicitor they instruct . Unless your child is so severely autistic that they do not have mental capacity, then they can decide for themselves whether they want to live with you or your ex, and where they want to live.

The support for your child via the mental health system is a separate issue