About
Hampshire Family Legal Solutions (HFLS) was established in 2015 by a local group of Family Law professionals to help divorcing and separating couples resolve their financial and/or children matters in a sensible and constructive fashion without going to court.
HFLS offer a fixed fee “intake” meeting with the clients seeing one of their family consultants individually for about 30 minutes each, and then together for about 30 minutes. This enables the family consultant to ascertain, for example, what the emotional and communication issues are. The couple then spend around 30 minutes with one of their financial consultants. Both the family and financial consultants are entirely neutral in the process. The lawyers are also present at the intake meeting to guide their clients through the meeting and discuss any issues the clients wish to raise. The lawyers will have met with their clients previously for their initial meeting when all the process options would have been discussed, with the client then expressing a desire to use the HFLS process.
All the professionals debrief after the intake meeting and then put together a bespoke proposal sent to both clients setting out the recommended process for them, the number of meetings thought necessary, which professionals should be involved together with full cost estimates. The first collaborative session thereafter can be set up if the clients are happy to proceed. If the professionals or clients feel for whatever reason that another process option, for example mediation, is more appropriate then of course one of the mediators within the HFLS group can take on the mediation case.
Area: Hampshire
POD contact: Ann Herd
Email: annherd@scottbailey.co.uk