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Child Law

Children’s Law

When you separate or divorce, it is a distressing and emotional time. If you have a child, this can be even more stressful and can regretfully lead to a ‘tug of war’ for the emotions of your child. Based in Caernarfon and serving the North Wales area, we are expert children’s law specialists, aiming to ease this stressful time as much as possible.

Children can all too often be the silent sufferers especially when their parents do not consider their needs as a priority. They are especially vulnerable when the stability in their young lives is disturbed, and it is important parents come to an agreement over childcare and contact arrangements as soon as is amicably possible.

However, breakups can and do become acrimonious and cause an unseen effect on children. If you simply cannot agree on what arrangements to put in place for your children or what you have agreed has broken down, then you can use a trained mediator to help you prioritise what is best for your children.

Sometimes the hurt and mistrust that follows a breakup prevents parents from agreeing ongoing arrangements for their children, If this is the situation you find yourself in then you may have to let the Family Court decide those arrangements for you.

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Children's Law

Children’s Law Solicitors

The Family court can make orders about who a child shall live with and contact arrangements with the non-resident parent.

The Court will make its decision based on what is considered the best interests of the child with its welfare being of paramount consideration.

The Court starts by saying it’s in the child’s best interests to know both of its parents so if you are being denied contact by the other parent be assured the court will normally order contact to take place.

However, the court may take into account factors such as domestic violence when making an order and will consider anything that would put a child at risk of harm.

Specific Issue Order

The Court can also make what is called a ‘specific issue order’ when parents cannot agree for example:

  • A decision as to what school children go to.
  • What religion they should follow.

A Prohibited Steps Order

An example of this type of order may be preventing one parent from taking a child to live in another country.

If these are some of the problems you are experiencing then call us or contact us below for a free 30 minute consultation.

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    Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales with registration number 649001

    Employee Information

    VAT

    We are not registered for VAT, so our charges currently do not include VAT; however, this may change during the course of the year. We will inform you as soon as the company becomes registered for VAT purposes.

    Additional Costs

    You may need to pay some additional costs, which are called disbursements. This includes Counsel (Barrister) Fees to prepare for and to represent you at an Employment Tribunal.

    Counsel Fees can vary between £800 and £3,000 per day plus 20% VAT. The amount you pay will depend on the expertise of the Barrister and how long the hearing will last. Counsel fees will cost more if a more experienced barrister is needed for a more complicated case and hearings always last longer on more complicated cases.

    Paying for your legal fees

    In some cases, we will be prepared to act for you under a Damages-Based Agreement, which means that we would recover our legal fee from the damages (compensation) that you recover if you win your case.

    Under a Damages-Based Agreement, we will deduct a proportion (limited to 35%) of your damages to reward us for the risk we assume in pursuing your claim under this type of agreement. This is because if your claim is not successful and you do not receive any compensation, and you have not agreed with us otherwise nor broken the terms of the Damages-Based Agreement, you will not have to pay our legal fees.

    If you do break the terms of a Damages-Based Agreement, or if we decide to terminate the agreement, you will be required to pay our costs.

    Please contact us if you would like to discuss funding your case on the basis of a Damages-Based Agreement.

    Disbursements

    Disbursements are costs payable to third parties, such as court fees or fees payable on the instruction of a barrister for advice or representation. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. In employment matters, there are no court fees to pay. Additionally, as Ian Winrow is a Solicitor Advocate, we often conduct our own representations, saving costs.

    You will be fully advised on any disbursements which may be payable at the onset of your case and throughout.

    Work included and key stages

    The precise work and stages involved in bringing an unfair or wrongful dismissal claim vary according to the circumstances. However, we have set out the key stages involved in a typical claim:

    Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation.

    Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached.

    Preparing your claim.

    Reviewing and advising on response from the other party.

    Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process.

    Preparing a schedule of loss.

    Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents.

    Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses.

    Preparing bundle of documents.

    Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements.

    Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list.

    Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including representation or instructions to Counsel.

    Services excluded within this estimate price

    Our service will not include any of the following:

    Advice or assistance in relation to any appeal.

    Approximate/ average timescales

    The time that it takes from your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take up to 6 weeks. This is because once we have put the referral in to ACAS, the respondent (your employer) will have one month to respond. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 6 – 9 months depending on the Court’s timetable. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as your case progresses.

    Factors that could increase costs

    In some circumstances we may increase our fees to account for additional time, work or skill required to meet your instructions. Examples include:

    If it is necessary to make applications to amend claims or provide further information about an existing claim.

    If we make a costs application.

    If there are complex preliminary issues.

    The number of witnesses and documents.

    If there are allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal.

    Employer Information

    VAT

    We are not registered for VAT, so our charges currently do not include VAT; however, this may change during the course of the year. We will inform you as soon as the company becomes registered for VAT purposes.

    Additional Costs

    You may need to pay some additional costs, which are called disbursements. This includes Counsel (Barrister) Fees to prepare for and to represent you at an Employment Tribunal.

    Counsel Fees can vary between £800 and £3,000 per day plus 20% VAT. The amount you pay will depend on the expertise of the Barrister and how long the hearing will last. Counsel fees will cost more if a more experienced barrister is needed for a more complicated case and hearings always last longer on more complicated cases.

    Disbursements

    Disbursements are costs payable to third parties, such as court fees or fees payable on the instruction of a barrister for advice or representation. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. In employment matters, there are no court fees to pay. Additionally, as Ian Winrow is a Solicitor Advocate, we often conduct our own representations, saving costs.

    You will be fully advised on any disbursements which may be payable at the onset of your case and throughout.

    Work included and key stages

    The precise work and stages involved in defending an unfair or wrongful dismissal claim vary according to the circumstances. However, we have set out the key stages involved in a typical claim:

    Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation.

    Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached.

    Preparing your response.

    Reviewing and advising on the claim from the other party.

    Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process.

    Considering a schedule of loss.

    Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents.

    Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses.

    Preparing bundle of documents.

    Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements.

    Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list.

    Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including representation or instructions to Counsel.

    Services excluded

    Our service will not include any of the following:

    Advice or assistance in relation to any appeal.

    Approximate/ average timescales

    The time that it takes from your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take up to 6 weeks. If the claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 6 - 9 months. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as your case progresses.

    Factors that could increase costs

    In some circumstances we may increase our fees to account for additional time, work or skill required to meet your instructions. Examples include:

    If it is necessary to defend applications to amended claims or provide further information about an existing claim.

    If we defend a costs application.

    If there are complex preliminary issues.

    The number of witnesses and documents.

    If there are allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal.

    Immigration Information

    Fees payable for third parties

    You may need to pay some additional costs, which are called disbursements. This could include Counsel (Barrister) Fees to prepare for and to represent you if a hearing is required.

    Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. Some examples of these disbursements are below. Although we do not charge VAT on our fees, disbursements are usually subject to VAT at 20%.

    Application fee payable to the Home Office (these are not subject to VAT).

    There is an application fee payable to the Home Office which will vary depending on the type of application being submitted. Please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table/2020 for further details about these fees and to determine the fee that may be applicable to your application.

    If you have any trouble locating an applicable fee, please contact us and we will help you to find it.

    We will of course also confirm any application fee payable once we have details of your matter.

    Immigration Healthcare Surcharge See https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application

    Translation Services

    It is common for supporting evidence to be in the form of documents which are not written in English. In these cases, a UK certified translation is required. The cost for this varies, but can usually be between £30 - £60 plus VAT per page, or £50 plus VAT per 150 words. However, this can vary drastically depending on the language and document. Before committing you to anything, we will always obtain quotes from at least 3 providers for your approval.

    Work included and key stages

    The precise work and stages involved in an immigration application will vary according to the circumstances. However, we have set out the key stages involved in a typical application:

    Discussing your circumstances in detail and confirming whether this is the most appropriate application for you to make and what other applications may be available to you.

    Giving you advice about the requirements of the Immigration Rules and whether you meet the criteria.

    If you do not meet the criteria, whether this can be overcome and how.

    Considering the supporting evidence you have provided.

    Where necessary, helping you to obtain further evidence (such as medical records and bank statements), including taking statements of any witnesses.

    Preparing your application and submitting it on your behalf.

    If the Home Office asks you to attend an interview, we will give you clear advice and discuss the possibility of us attending with you.

    Giving you advice about the outcome of the application and any further steps you need to take.

    Services excluded

    Our service will not include any of the following:

    Where the Home Office refuses your application, advice and assistance in relation to any appeal.

    Approximate/ average timescales

    We cannot guarantee how long the Home Office will take to process your application. In our experience it can take them up to 6 months and sometimes longer. Please read the current processing times here: https://www.gov.uk/visa-processing-times

    We will normally be able to submit an application within 2 weeks once we have received all of the documentation that we have requested from you.

    In some circumstances, there may be increased fees to pay to account for additional time, work or skill required to meet your instructions. Examples include:

    The length of time that an interpreter needs to spend on your case if it is complex.

    If independent expert reports are needed to support your case e.g. medical reports.

    If there is an interview with the Home Office and we attend with you, there will be additional charges to cover our travel expenses.

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