Whether this year is your first or your umpteenth Christmas as a divorced or separated parent, you may be viewing it with trepidation.   more »

Christmas might still be a month away, but if you’re divorced with dependent children it’s not too soon to start making detailed plans for how you will spend the Festive Season.   more »

A new relationship can provide a welcome tonic after the upheaval and unhappiness of divorce or separation. A romantic foray, however fleeting, may help to restore self-esteem, open up social opportunities and help you look more positively to the future.   more »

The Clap (gonorrhoea), the Pox (so-called great pox or syphilis), non-specific urethritis (NSU), venereal diseases, (VD) & VD clinics are all historic terms for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), which have been replaced with more current ones – Chlamydia, genito-urinary medicine (GUM), sexual health clinics (SHCs) and GUM clinics. Even STDs have, in the last decade, been superseded by the term sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Why all these changes? Is it purely to confuse Jo/e Public and blind him and her with scientific jargon? Do they have any relevance to divorce matters? The answer is complex, but based upon a number of issues.   more »

When a client comes to see me about divorcing their partner because they’ve discovered he or she has been unfaithful, their pain is often red raw. They will usually dwell on the emotional and physical betrayal, and understandably so.   more »

For men.... Unexpectedly bumping into your ex-wife years after you last saw her can be an unsettling experience, particularly if either of you still harbours feelings of animosity or regret.   more »

For women... When your marriage ends, it may be your most fervent wish never to clap eyes on your ex again. However, if you have children, there are bound to be occasions - school events, graduation ceremonies, weddings and so on - when the two of you will be in the same room together. Difficult though such events can be, at least you have the luxury of preparingmentally for the meeting well in advance.   more »

There are no “adultery packages” on which to print the kinds of warnings you find on cigarette packets – but there’s reported evidence this week that playing around can seriously affect your health.   more »

A study by the Oxford Centre for Family Law and Policy (OCFLP) has found that the perception that fathers are treated unfairly by the divorce courts is wrong. The family justice system is not biased against non-residential parents, it concludes.   more »

Sir John Major's former daughter-in-law, Emma Noble, claims the former prime minister and his wife have little involvement in the life of her autistic son, Harry.   more »

The price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com has announced plans to add legal business to its online portfolio, which in these internet-driven, credit crunch days seems like a jolly good idea. Shopping around online for the best deal on products and services is obviously the way to go in the 21st century.   more »

The number of break-ups among couples in their 60s has rocketed to an all time high, according to the latest official divorce figures released last week. Despite an overall drop in the divorce rate, the “silver” age group was the only one where it rose among both men and women – from 12,636 in 2006 to 13,678 in 2007.   more »

You may be reading this blog after returning from your annual summer holiday feeling more exhausted than before you went away. Not only exhausted; you may also be gravely worried that your marriage is falling apart.   more »

According to a survey by Hotpoint, published this week, the kitchen – rather than the bedroom – is the source of most marital discord. Not only is it the busiest room of the house, it’s also the most stressful, with 85 per cent of women revealing that the kitchen habits of their men annoy them.   more »

I am often told that the reason I’m cynical about marriage is that I spend all my professional time seeing people who are going through a divorce. So on holiday in Norfolk this month, I decided to “family watch” in the hope of discovering that the majority of the married population is, in fact, happy.   more »

The Duke and Duchess of York do it and Hollywood actress Demi Moore even takes her new husband along when she and Bruce Willis do it.   more »

Summer is often a time for major family events, such as weddings and graduation days, but celebrations can be marred – even ruined – if divorced or separated parents are unable to put their differences aside for the occasion.   more »

The school summer holidays are finally here. Great news for happy families who can’t wait to spend some quality time together, building sandcastles on Cornish beaches or exploring the antiquities of ancient Greece. Not-so-great news, though, for fractured families who may be dreading the next few weeks, viewing it more as an ordeal than a jolly, carefree time.   more »

The Government has pledged to take action to stem the surge in knife crime that has claimed the lives of more than 20 teenagers in London alone this year, including forcing youngsters caught carrying knives to visit stabbing victims in hospital.   more »

You may not yet be feeling the effects of the credit crunch too badly, but according to a Chambers of Commerce report, full-blown recession is only months away and almost everyone will have to tighten their purse strings.   more »

According to media reports this week, television presenter Adrian Chiles has split with his wife of ten years, Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour host Jane Garvey, because his burgeoning career has now eclipsed hers and his supposed inability to turn down work, leaving him stressed and with less time for her and their two young daughters......   more »

Absent parents can sometimes struggle to stay in touch with their children, especially if their career is time consuming or the job takes them abroad for lengthy spells.   more »

In last week’s blog, I talked about the sad fact that half a million elderly men aren’t in touch with their children partly because divorce courts in the ‘70s – when judges were less sympathetic to fathers’ and children’s needs – awarded custody to mothers in a way that left even the most devoted dads high and dry in terms of access.   more »

A sad, if not altogether surprising, picture emerged this week of how men are suffering from the effects of their divorces as long as 30 years after the event.   more »

The number of single women has hit an all-time high – and most of them aren’t looking for love – according to reports this week.   more »

Have you just returned from a half-term holiday break? If so, maybe you opted for a camping trip in the UK – to beat the credit crunch – and spent the week dodging rain showers, squelching around in a soggy field and forking out far more money than intended on indoor entertainment and restaurant meals.   more »

The increase in alcohol consumption is rarely out of the news these days and one of the most alarming trends appears to be middle-aged, middle-class drinkers who regularly knock back far more than the Government’s recommended daily number of units.   more »

The current spell of sunny, warm weather and the meadows and hedgerows burgeoning with May-time colours and smells are conducive to making us feel full of the joys of spring.   more »

Last weekend marked the first anniversary of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance from her family’s holiday apartment in Portugal. The four-year-year was apparently abducted while her parents dined at a tapas bar nearby.   more »

Money doesn’t buy you happiness, so the adage goes. Yet money does buy you material comfort and peace of mind, which in today’s consumerist world is increasingly important.   more »