Family law solicitor Swansea

We pride ourselves on having over 200 years of history providing local legal support, we are a modern and forward-thinking firm who aim to deliver a ‘classic’ yet robust and efficient service.

Supporting clients in all legal advice

Our motive is to support our clients in all legal matters by offering suitable advice and guidance where necessary, while focusing on creating a personal service, taking each client’s needs into consideration. Additionally, we are a cost-conscious team and aim to ensure that effective solutions are provided to resolve your matter.

We represent clients local to Swansea but pride ourselves on our reputation and have clients contact us from Aberystwyth to London. It may not always be convenient for our clients to meet us in person, we are therefore available to discuss matters privately by email, telephone or via video call if this is more suitable for our clients.

Family Law Solicitors Swansea

With us being a Swansea based firm, we are keen to support our local community and are regular advisors at the Citizens Advice Bureau based in Swansea, we are also avid regulars at the Swansea Court User Meetings which enables us to assist the Court by making suggestions which would benefit court users i.e. members of the public and our clients.

Our team of family experts are on hand with the knowledge and experience to represent you in many areas including:

Children Matters

When couples separate, there may be disagreements about where the children will live and how often they will spend time with each parent. We appreciate that this is a difficult issue and we help you to try and resolve it in the most cost-effective way.

Court proceedings are not always necessary but if you are unable to reach an agreement then we can advise you in relation to making an application to the Court and we can represent you in these proceedings.

During court proceedings, the court will put the child’s welfare first by taking a variety of factors into account including:

• the child’s own wishes
• the child’s physical, emotional and educational needs
• the child’s age, sex, background and other relevant considerations
• any harm which the child has suffered or might suffer in the future
• how able the child’s parents (or other relevant persons) are to meet his or her needs
• how the child might be affected by any change in circumstances
• the powers available to the court

Divorce and Civil Partnerships

We understand that deciding that your marriage or civil partnership has ended is a very difficult and emotional time, and that is why we try to guide you through the process by minimising the distress as much as possible.

• You can only apply for a divorce if you’ve been married for over 12 months
• There is one ground for divorce which is an irretrievable breakdown of your marriage
• You must rely on 1 of 5 facts, namely adultery, two years separation (if both parties agree), five years separation, desertion and unreasonable behaviour.

We offer a fixed fee service for an undefended divorce if you choose to act as the Petitioner. There is also a court fee to be paid although you may be eligible for a reduction in this depending on your financial circumstances.

If you are the Respondent in uncontested divorce proceedings, we also offer a fixed fee service.

Financial Matters

• It is a common misconception that obtaining the Decree Absolute in divorce also finalises financial matters between two spouses.
• Even if you have reached an agreement between you, it is important that you seek legal advice and have the agreement recorded in a Consent Order which is approved and sealed by the Court and a legally binding document.
• Financial matters on divorce include property, debts, savings, businesses, maintenance, pensions and investments.
• All of these items will be considered in negotiations irrespective of whether they are in sole or joint names.

Consent order

We can advise you in negotiations and settlements and assist you in reaching an agreement without issuing Court proceedings.   We can record your agreement in a Consent Order, the court fee to file a Consent Order is currently£50.

If you and your spouse are unable to reach an agreement, we will discuss the possibility of Court proceedings with you and issue an application in the Court for financial relief.

We are also able to advise you on pre and post nuptial agreements.

Cohabitation Agreements

When you decide to begin living with your partner, it is often difficult to consider what would happen if you were to separate in the future.

• There is no such thing as a “common law” marriage
• You have virtually no legal rights when you are a cohabiting couple

We can advise and prepare a Cohabitation Agreement when you begin living together, this will set out your agreement regarding finances and what would happen if you were to separate in the future.

Separating from your partner is difficult but a Cohabitation Agreement can ease some of the difficulties as you will have already decided what should happen when your relationship breaks down. This can save a lot of time and legal costs for you both in the future.

Domestic Abuse and Injunctions

If you feel you are subject to domestic abuse, you should seek help immediately. Domestic abuse can be psychological, physical, sexual, financial and/or emotional.

If you feel that this applies to you, we can assist you in making an application to the Court for an injunction. If suitable in the circumstances we can also write to the opponent warning them of the implications of their actions.

At MyBump2Baby is passionate about connecting parents and growing families with trusted family law solicitors. Divorce or separation can be a really difficult time, not just for you as parents but for children to and it is important that disputes are handled the best possible way.

As parents it can be difficult to know who to trust when it comes to finding the right family law solicitors, it could be that you have never been through family disputes when a child or children have been involved before. We recommend seeking advice from trusted family law experts.

History about the firm

Since Gomer Williams was founded in 1919, we have consistently strived towards becoming a cornerstone of our local community. We excel in giving expert legal advice in a range of areas, including family, criminal, conveyancing, wills and probate and civil litigation. Whilst upkeeping with our focus on our community, we have continued to support the local area through working with local and national charities, raising money through various events. We are also proud to have a number of Welsh speakers within our firm, who are able to advise clients in the medium of Welsh.

What areas we cover

At Gomer Williams, we have a total of four offices, all of which are located in South West Wales. Two of these offices, including our head office, are located within Llanelli. The other two of our offices are located within Pontarddulais and Cockett, Swansea. Although our offices are solely based within South West Wales, we handle cases which are heard before courts across both England and Wales.

In respect of our family law department, we cover a range of matters, including:

1. Private law – We are able to advise on a range of issues, including issues that relate to child contact arrangements, where a child is to live or be schooled, or seeking safeguards to prevent a party from a certain activity relating to a child.

2. Public law – We represent parties who have social services involvement, who are subject to care proceedings or are subject to adoption proceedings.

3. Divorce – We represent clients who are either wanting to instigate divorce proceedings, as the petitioner, or who are the respondent in divorce proceedings. Within our family department, we are adept at dealing with every aspect of a divorce, as well as any child and financial arrangements that are needing to be made. In addition to this, we are able to offer services from other departments within the firm, such as through our conveyancing or wills and probate departments, where a sale of the family home or the updating of a will may be required following the divorce process.

4. Domestic violence and injunction – For client’s who have or are continuing to suffer from domestic violence, we are able to represent them in order to obtain protection via an injunction such as non-molestation or occupation orders.

Fees

In respect of our family law matters, we are able offer a number of fixed fee packages in respect of private law and divorce cases. These packages clearly set out the work that we will undertake for you, for a fixed price and can be easily found on our website.

In addition to the fixed fee packages, we are able to accept privately paying clients for work that does not fall within these packages. These will be charged at the fee earners charge out rate. Any letters or telephone calls that will be made are charged at one tenth of the hourly rate.

We are also able to represent clients who are in receipt of legal aid, subject that they meet the qualifying criteria, as set out by the Legal Aid Agency. The criteria for which will depend upon whether the client can satisfy the means and merit tests. In addition to this, in some circumstances, evidence of domestic abuse may be required in order to obtain legal aid.

• Divorce & Separation
• Children Issues
• Pre/post Nups
• Domestic Violence
• Forced Marriages
• Child Abduction
• Grandparents Rights

Law Society’s Family Law Advanced Panel