Why the New Year can be a testing time for relationships

It is a sad reality that holidays put pressure on family life. This is especially true of the period over Christmas and the New Year.

The strain on families over the Christmas and New Year period can often lead to relationship breakdowns. Sadly, statistics also show an increase in domestic abuse around this period.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues, here are a few things you can do:

• If your relationship can be saved, consider counselling from specialists such as Relate.
• If you feel your relationship is over, consider mediation. Your specialist family lawyer can refer you to a mediator, where you and your partner can sit down with a trained mediator to find ways of sorting out things like parenting plans for your children and how to divide your assets.

Contrary to popular belief, legal aid is still available to cover the cost of mediation if you qualify financially. The Government is currently offering to pay for both parties to attend a first joint mediation session where one of them qualifies for legal aid.

However, as a result of legal aid cutbacks in 2012, legal aid is no longer available for cases of divorce and separation, except in cases of domestic abuse. The rules about entitlement are quite strict so be sure to get specialist advice from a lawyer who has a legal aid contract.

Wilkinson Woodward has a team of mediators and specialist family lawyers. We also have a contract in place with the Legal Aid Agency.

For more information contact our Family teams in Brighouse (01484 710 571), Halifax (01422 339 600) or Huddersfield (01484 483 800).