Family law

Our family law department offers the highest quality of support to our clients, stemming from the experience and talent of outstanding family lawyers who are nationally and internationally acknowledged as leaders in their field. We provide a comprehensive service which is both solution-based and bespoke.

Expert guidance for family matters

We act in some of the leading cases in England and Wales representing clients including professionals, entrepreneurs, wealthy individuals, landowners, those in the public eye, and their partners.

Our team is committed to providing clients with an unparalleled level of service in a compassionate, timely and cost effective manner from our offices in London, Oxford, Reading and Guildford. Our solicitors’ skills cover constructive negotiation and a full range of family dispute resolution services, including mediation, arbitration, One Couple, One Lawyer and collaborative law, as well as robust and rigorous litigation where required.

We have significant experience in handling relationship breakdown, encompassing divorce, the dissolution of civil partnerships and disputes between unmarried couples, along with the issues relating to children and finances that can arise. Experts within our team advise on groundbreaking matters surrounding surrogacy; modern families; and complex parenting arrangements. Our solicitors are also experienced in asset protection, by way of nuptial and cohabitation agreements, and work closely with the firm’s highly regarded private client team on complex onshore and offshore tax and trust issues, as well as lifetime, inheritance and succession planning.

Penningtons Manches Cooper has long been recognised as a thought leader on family issues in England and Wales. Five partners from our family department have previously chaired Resolution, the leading specialist family law solicitors’ organization in the country.

Penningtons Manches Cooper provide a Rolls-Royce service and think around every issue. They are open to involving experts when needed but are able to provide in-house expertise at a very high level.

Eight members of our team are fellows of the prestigious International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and we hold leadership roles in both the family section of the International Bar Association (IBA) and the Private Clients’ Commission of the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA). This positions us at the very forefront of those who advise on international family law issues including ‘forum shopping’ or jurisdiction disputes as well as international marital agreements and cases involving cross-border disputes about children.

How we help our clients

Divorce and separation

Alternatives to court

FInancial settlements on divorce or separation

Children – domestic

Children – international and abduction

Cohabitation agreements and claims

Injunctions and emergency remedies

International family law

Pre-nuptial agreements and post-nuptial agreements

Same sex families and civil partnerships

Surrogacy law and disputes

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Useful resources

FAQS – Cohabitation agreements

FAQS – Family mediation

FAQS – Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements

FAQS – Relocating abroad with children after a divorce or separation

FAQS – Surrogacy law in the uk

Costs law services

International Family Law Report – the cohabitation conundrum

Context magazine: explore the changing world of wealth in our latest edition

A joined up, thoughtful and careful approach is embedded through the culture at Penningtons, which I think shows in their reputation and results.

They are highly skilled lawyers who are very personable – a great combination. It’s a brilliant team and clients are always well-supported.

One of the leading family teams in the country. They are at the vanguard of family law cases, dealing with some of the most cutting-edge cases in the last decade.

Recent work highlights

Leading case on jurisdiction

Acting for the husband in the reported case of T v T, which is the leading case on interpretation of the EU Regulation on jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matter of parental responsibility.

Valuation for entrepreneur

Acting for a highly successful entrepreneur in a sector where valuations are notoriously difficult and where there are other significant and complex issues, including inherited wealth and the intervention of a third party.

Pre-nuptial for transatlantic couple

Acting for a British-American couple who reside in England, with both individuals running successful firms and holding properties and investments spanning Europe and the US. We helped the parties prepare a pre-nuptial agreement.

Complex trust restructuring

Acting for a family member of one of the wealthiest families in the Nordics. This case involved a complex family trust which had moved jurisdictions.

Post-nuptial for wealthy businessman

Acting for a businessman, whose wealth had increased significantly since his marriage, on a post-nuptial agreement which involved assets in multiple jurisdictions.

High Court surrogacy orders

Representing a high-profile, same-sex couple in an international surrogacy case and successfully obtaining parental orders for them from the High Court.