LGBTQ+ Family Law

If you are considering starting a family and need some help, we have specialists in the legal aspects of surrogacy, donor conception, parentage, fertility, co-parenting, and private adoption.

The law is often complex around these issues, but we will provide expert tailored advice to your own unique situation to ensure that you obtain the outcome you need. We’ll also help you understand who the legal parents are in your situation and what steps you may need to take. In the unfortunate event that a dispute arises, we have the experience to assist you in navigating the court process if that should become necessary

We can provide the expert help to assist you in making plans to regulate your financial and property affairs when moving in together, or when entering marriage or a civil partnership. This might include the preparation of a ‘living together’ agreement – also known as a cohabitation agreement, or nuptial agreement, pre- or post-marriage.

If your relationship should end, we are specialists in divorce and the dissolution of civil partnerships in addition to issues concerning property, family finances and the arrangements for children. Many same sex couples choose to live together rather than enter civil partnerships or marriages. Such relationships may have continued for many years, and although there have been changes in the law, they may not have been formalised. We appreciate the reasons for this can be complex and varied.

If such a relationship breaks down, we will advise you on property rights and associated financial issues, and arrangements for any children to enable you to make positive decisions and move forward.

We can assist in relation to issues concerning children. There may be difficulties relating to legal parentage, parental responsibility, living and care arrangements, or in relation to specific issues such as schooling, changing your child’s surname or medical treatment. We can provide specialist advice on these matters and issues that relate to a child’s gender.

An LGBT lawyer advises on the family law issues that may be unique to the LGBTQ+ community, including same sex divorce, civil partnership dissolution, children’s arrangements, and legal parenthood for same sex couples. We approach every case with sensitivity to your circumstances, ensuring you receive advice that reflects both the legal framework and the practical realities of your relationship and family, whatever form that takes.

Our same sex lawyers have specific experience with the legal issues that can arise for LGBTQ+ clients, such as establishing legal parenthood, navigating fertility treatment and surrogacy law, and dissolving civil partnerships. While the underlying legal framework is largely the same as for opposite sex couples, having a solicitor familiar with these nuances helps ensure nothing is overlooked and that advice is genuinely tailored to your situation.

While the process is broadly similar, civil partnerships are dissolved rather than divorced, and the legal terminology and some procedural steps differ slightly. A civil partnership dissolution solicitor can advise on which process applies to your relationship and guide you through dissolving the partnership, including resolving financial matters and any arrangements needed for children, in the same way as a divorce.

Yes. Establishing legal parenthood can be more complex for same sex couples, particularly where children are conceived through fertility treatment, donor conception, or surrogacy. An LGBT lawyer can advise on the legal steps needed to secure parental status for both parents, ensuring your rights, and your children’s security, are properly protected from the outset.

Yes. Same sex lawyers within our family law team handle the full range of children’s matters, including disputes over residence, contact, and parental responsibility, with an understanding of how these issues may present differently for LGBTQ+ families. Our priority is always reaching arrangements that protect your child’s wellbeing while properly recognising the realities of your family structure.