Eddison Cogan Lawyers
+44 (0)117 389 0523​
Family & Commercial Law Specialists
Family Law Services
Overview
How we Work – Conflict Resolution
​​At Eddison Cogan Lawyers, we may EITHER act for one party OR we practice collaborative family law to achieve cost-effective private resolutions to family conflict. In both cases we are ​aiming towards Consent Orders and seeking to avoiding litigation.
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Christopher Eddison-Cogan is a qualified solicitor, holds a Master of Laws specialising in family law, an MBA and a diploma in theology. He has completed specialist family mediation training in the UK, including child inclusive mediation, and is regulated by the UK Solicitors Regulation Authority. In some circumstances, Christopher is assisted by Jennifer Hogan-Brown, a counselling psychologist now practicing in the UK as a specialist family psychotherapist, as well as by paralegals.
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In our collaborative model, agreement is more likely to be reached because the professionals are facilitating effective interpersonal communication in a legal context, not legal exchanges in a personal context. For some couples, an exchange of forms, perhaps even online, will be sufficient for an effective separation and divorce, but most require a facilitated end to the legal and emotional relationship in order to move forward with minimal distress and risk of long-term disadvantage.
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Documenting Financial Relationships
​​Family relationships necessarily include financial relationships, whether entered into voluntarily or imposed by custom or courts.
Strictly speaking, pre-nuptial agreements are not legally binding in the UK, but courts do take notice of their terms provided they are entered into fairly and with full disclosure by both parties.
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Other countries, and we are most familiar with Australia, do enforce financial agreements between domestic partners, provided various procedural and substantive conditions are met. Expatriates can be caught out in both directions; for example, cohabiting couples moving to the UK may not have the rights they expect, while a UK professional accepting a two-year posting might find that their accompanying partner suddenly acquires financial rights under Australian law.
In many jurisdictions, including the UK, properly executed cohabitation agreements can be legally binding, and can be agreed between domestic partners, siblings and even friends.
