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Family law solicitors in Lichfield

Our family team works from St Mary's Chambers on Breadmarket Street, in the middle of the city. This is where the firm has always been.

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divorce

By the time people call us, they have usually been thinking about it for months

Very few people ring a family solicitor on impulse. Most have been turning it over for a long time, reading things online late at night, and getting a slightly different answer every time. Some have been told confidently by a friend or a relative how these things work, and quite a lot of what they have been told is wrong.

So the first job is usually not legal at all. It is separating what is actually likely to happen from what you have been dreading, or hoping, or half-remembering from somebody else's divorce fifteen years ago. Those are rarely the same thing.

We advise on divorce and separation, financial settlements, arrangements for children, disputes between couples who never married, and agreements made before or during a marriage. We act for people across Lichfield and the villages around it, including Burntwood, Shenstone, Whittington, Alrewas, Fradley, Armitage, and over towards Tamworth.

Bring the questions you feel silly asking. Those are usually the useful ones.

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What we advise on

We'll help you work through the key decisions, protect your position, and keep things moving.

< class="heading text- text-"> Divorce and separation

Nobody has to prove the other one was at fault any more, and nobody can contest a divorce simply because they would rather stay married. The application runs through the national online service and takes a minimum of around six months from start to final order. The important thing to understand is that a divorce ends a marriage and nothing else. It does not divide your money, and it does not stop a former spouse making a financial claim years later. That takes a separate order.

< class="heading text- text-"> Financial settlements

Usually the part that decides how the next decade of your life looks. The house, the mortgage, pensions, savings, debts, and for a fair number of Lichfield clients a business or a share in one. Lichfield has a high proportion of owner-occupiers and long-service professionals, which in practice means larger pension pots and more equity than in many neighbouring towns. Both need valuing properly. A settlement that ignores a pension can be a very expensive mistake to discover at sixty.

< class="heading text- text-"> Arrangements for children

Where the children live, when they see each parent, holidays and Christmas, schools, and what happens if one parent wants to move away. The courts start from the position that children usually benefit from a relationship with both parents, and from a strong preference for parents sorting it out themselves. We help you do that, and only turn to the court where agreement genuinely is not possible.

< class="heading text- text-"> Separating when you were not married

Living together for twenty years gives you no automatic claim on your partner's property, and no right to maintenance for yourself. The phrase common law wife has no legal meaning in England and Wales and never has. What you may have is a claim based on contributions or on what was agreed between you, and a possible claim on behalf of any children. It is a harder area of law than divorce and the outcomes are less predictable, which is exactly why advice early is worth more here than almost anywhere else.

< class="heading text- text-"> Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements

Most often taken out by people marrying for a second time, protecting an inheritance, or bringing a family business into a marriage. They are not automatically binding here, but a court will normally uphold one that was properly made, with both sides independently advised, full financial disclosure on each side, and signed well before the wedding. Leaving it to the last fortnight is the most common way to weaken one.

Talk to a family solicitor in Lichfield

Call 01543 263 456 or use the form. A short summary is enough to start with. If there is a court date or a deadline, tell us and we will prioritise it.

St Mary's Chambers, 5-7 Breadmarket Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS13 6LQ.

From first call to first advice

Don't leave financial matters until after the Final Order

The divorce process and financial settlement are dealt with separately. Getting your Final Order does not close off financial claims — your ex-spouse can still make claims against you months or even years later unless those claims are formally resolved in a sealed Consent Order. We strongly recommend getting financial matters sorted before applying for the Final Order.

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The first call

01543 263 456, or the form on this page. You will not be asked to explain everything to a receptionist. Say roughly what has happened and whether there is anything time-critical, such as a hearing date, a house sale, or a child not being returned.

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Booking you in

St Mary's Chambers is on Breadmarket Street, a short walk from the market square and the Cathedral, and about ten minutes from Lichfield City station. If getting into the city during the day is difficult, say so when you book and we will see what we can do.

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What to bring

Anything you already have: mortgage statement, recent payslips, pension statements, and any correspondence from the other side or from a court. If you have nothing, come anyway. A first appointment with no paperwork is still a useful appointment.

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The advice itself

An hour, and a realistic picture at the end of it. That includes the parts you may not want to hear. If your expectations are out of line with what a court would actually do, you are far better off learning that in a meeting room than eighteen months and several thousand pounds later.

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Costs and communication

The basis of our charges is agreed in writing before work begins, and we flag anything likely to change them. Clear pricing agreed upfront. You will have a named solicitor and a direct route to them.

Lichfield, and the shape of family work here

St Mary's Chambers has been our head office for a long time and it is where the largest part of the firm sits. Breadmarket Street is a two minute walk from the market square, the city centre car parks are close, and Lichfield City station is about ten minutes on foot. Clients come to us from across the district, particularly Burntwood, Shenstone, Whittington, Alrewas, Fradley and Armitage, and a steady number from Tamworth.

Lichfield has a particular shape to its family work. It is a city of long marriages, high owner-occupation, and a lot of people who have worked for the same employer or run the same business for decades. That tends to produce settlements where the pension is the biggest single asset on the table, and where one party has a much clearer picture of the finances than the other.

Why the pension usually decides it

The transfer value printed on an annual statement is not what a defined benefit pension is worth, and in a long marriage the gap between the two can run well into six figures. A settlement that splits the house evenly and leaves the pensions where they are can look fair on the day and turn out to have been badly one-sided by the time both people retire. Where the pensions are substantial, an actuarial report is money well spent.

It is also worth knowing that a divorce application itself no longer goes to a local court. It is handled centrally through the national online service and needs no hearing unless something is disputed. What can require a hearing is a dispute about money or about children, and even then most are resolved by agreement long before that point.

Why instruct us

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A city centre office

St Mary's Chambers on Breadmarket Street, walkable from the market square, the car parks and Lichfield City station.

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Our head office, not a branch

Lichfield is where the firm is based and where most of it sits. You are not dealing with a satellite of somewhere else.

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Pensions taken seriously

In Lichfield the pension is often worth more than the house. We make sure it is valued rather than assumed.

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Costs agreed in writing

The basis of our charges is set out before work starts. Clear pricing agreed upfront.

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Full service behind us

If your matter touches a house sale, a will, or a business, those teams are in the same building.

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Straight about expectations

If what you are hoping for is not what a court would order, we will say so early rather than bill you to find out.

Ready to speak to a family solicitor in Lichfield?

Book a free initial appointment with our family law team. No obligation, and a clear picture of your options before you commit to anything.

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Questions we are asked in Lichfield

The things people ask most often before they instruct us. If yours is not here, just call and ask.

How long does a divorce actually take in Lichfield?

The same as anywhere in England and Wales, because divorce is now handled centrally rather than locally. There is a minimum of twenty weeks between the application and the conditional order, then a further six weeks and a day before the final order. So around six months at the very fastest, and that assumes nothing is contested. In practice most people wait longer, because it is usually sensible to sort the finances out before the final order rather than after it.

What is the first thing I should do?

Before anything else, get a clear picture of the finances while you still have easy access to them. Mortgage statement, pension statements for both of you, recent payslips, and a rough list of savings and debts. You do not need to do anything with that information yet, and gathering it commits you to nothing. But people who separate first and go looking for paperwork afterwards make life considerably harder for themselves. After that, take advice before you make any large decision, particularly about moving out.

Will I lose half my pension?

Not automatically, and half is not the default. Pensions are one asset among several and the court looks at the whole picture, including the house, your incomes, the length of the marriage and who is caring for children. What matters most is that the pension is properly valued, because the transfer value on the annual statement is often a poor guide to what it is really worth. In many Lichfield cases the pension is the single largest asset, which makes getting this right more important than people expect.

Your Family Law Experts

Our Family Law team is here for people, not just cases. Approachable, compassionate, and focused on securing the best possible outcomes for you and your loved ones. Combining specialist expertise with clear, practical advice, they guide you through life's most challenging moments with sensitivity, integrity, and unwavering professionalism.

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