To ask that people STOP giving incorrect Legal advice!!!

[PoisonMaple]

I see this time and time again.

Stop it. Especially in family matters.

I get it, some information is generic and helpful, but seriously, the details!!! Stop it. These are people who are struggling and looking for understanding, give it, but stop giving Legal advice unless you're qualified to do so.

No, you are not garaunteed spousal maintenance.

No, you cannot name the OM/OW in Proceedings.

No, you cannot delay your divorce to force the other side into financial disclosure.

No, you are not going to get to keep the house because you've been at home with children. Even if you do get the house, it'll be for a set period of time until the Courts deem that you need to sell or find an agreement which allows the other sides longterm housing needs to also be met.

No, you cannot just 'get his payslips,' get your 'ducks' in a row, screenshot the messages, and then assume that you'll get a better settlement with all this evidence. You won't.

'Custody' is not a thing. Your child(ren) will live with and spend time with.

No, you cannot ensure PR remains only yours. A Declaration of Parentage is simple and straightforward, as is the process to prove you're a parent and get PR, even abusers are entitled to that. It does not guarantee contact, but you can't stop PR by not adding to a birth certificate. Especially if the other side is persistent and wants that right.

I understand more than most how emotive a marriage/relationship breakdown is, both the human and legal aspect of it.

The bottom line is this, every matter is different. The process may start off the same, but the outcome is not the same each time and never garaunteed. A settlement that I can get for 1 client is absolutely not going to be the case for another client, even if their circumstances are the same.

I'm a lawyer too and I hang around online forums a lot!

I'd still never tell a poster to take any course of action on a forum, just like I wouldn't give advice to a friend or down the pub. Either it would be advice on my practice area in which case I'd not be insured and wouldn't have all the facts, or it would be outside my practice area and so I wouldn't be qualified to advise. In either case it would be negligent and that's something that got drummed into me during my training and beyond.

I guess just stating the law in a given state is fine, but not actually telling someone to do something specific based on that law.

What drives me loopy is when posters (inc OP) confidently assert facts without seeming to realise that other jurisdictions exist.
I’m assuming that OP’s list pertains to English and Welsh law but there’s no indication of that.

I'm not sure that they do.

I suspect it's something that some posters on MN think that some women believe.

In all my years on MN, I can't recall a poster literally assert that she has rights because of her status of 'common law wife'. It has always been the case that we see a long-term unmarried partner and mother asking what rights she does have, if any. It's at that point that other posters start unhelpfully and irrelevantly banging on to the OP about the whole 'ooh common law wife - there's no such thing in this country' malarkey.

But I guess I could be reading the wrong threads.

@AutumnCrow if you advanced search you can find plenty, but I will grant you they are all over 10 years old. I’ve been posting on here longer than I thought!

My absolute was January last year and named someone. There were cases still going through under the old system.

@Willyoujustbequiet yes that's right - but the petition must have been started before April 2022 which is when the naming would have happened.

The one that always puzzles me is posters who think that you can't claim damages for injury due to negligence unless you have actually suffered financial loss. The basic principle of general damages for pain, suffering and inconvenience is so well established - yet there's a firm view on MN that, for instance, people who aren't in jobs can't claim for even serious injuries because there's no loss of earnings.

I couldn't agree more. It absolutely drives me crazy to see people spouting opinions as if it's fact. It's never "I think this might apply" or "I'm not sure about this but ", or "I read this somewhere but I'm not 100% sure". It's always concrete statements without any suggestion that it is actually only the posters opinion and may not actually be applicable/the law/correct.

The common law wife thing was very widely believed when I was young (and God was a lad! ), probably not as much now.

I remember back in the 80s when I was about to move in with DH, his boss (a partner in a firm of chartered accountants so not a fool) advised DH not to as "she'll get rights to your money as she will be a common law wife". Misogynistic twat, I earned more than DH and he didn't have a bean in savings so I should have been the one being wary according to his logic

This. 100%.

I've just thought of one I see a lot! The "do I need child's other parent's written permission to take child abroad?"
Lots of people will tell posters they don't, and this is a certainty because they've done it themselves.
Fact. If other parent has parental responsibility (married at time of birth or named on birth certificate) you do need written consent of other parent or a court order. Exception is if you have an order saying child "lives with" you.
Without these things it's a criminal offence of child abduction. In practice it's rare that offence would be prosecuted but the scope is there. But no, posters will confidently say it's fine.
As OP says, the non qualified advisors can be quite dangerous, especially when the OP likes the answer so takes it on board as fact.

When I got divorced I got free time with an actual solicitor, it definitely wasn't an hour though.

Yeah, god forbid anyone has the audacity to tread on the toes of overpaid solicitors 🙄

You can get a free hour with a qualified solicitor as I’ve done it myself (albeit 15 years ago).

You can’t just add your name to a legal title, but you can register an interest with the Land Registry to protect your legal interests and prevent a property being sold/disposed of pending formal legal resolution

I'm not sure what you mean by ‘changing the locks does not guarantee that the house is yours’? As in excluding a partner or as a landlord?

Agree people should take MN advice with a pinch of salt - sometimes it can be a helpful starting point, but people should always do their own research or take proper legal advice

It's not a criminal offence or child abduction to take a child abroad without written consent of the other parent.

It might be an offence to take a child abroad against the wishes of their other parent but that's not the same thing.

@PrincessTeaSet you flounder very sure. You're wrong. This is what the post is about.
Read this, or go to the primary legislation. I've screenshotted some info for you.

childlawadvice.org.uk/information-pages/abduction/

That should say, you sound very sure! Not flounder.

Section 1 Child Abduction Act 1984.
The irony of incorrect assertions on a post about people giving incorrect advice

Where does it say it has to be in writing?

@PinkyBlueMe There's nothing in the section of legislation to which you refer that says anything about consent having to be in writing.

The legislation talks about "appropriate consent" not "written consent"

Is there legislation elsewhere that defines appropriate consent as having to be written consent?l

Passport control at the channel tunnel were very thorough. Asked our teens directly to them were we their parents etc. if we weren’t we would have needed authorisation for sure. We have teen girls so maybe it’s trafficking risk

I certainly won't be taking advice from someone who thinks "Paralegal's" is the plural.

As another family solicitor, I could not agree with you more! Some of the highly dubious ‘advice’ I see posted on here boggles my mind!

Ok I see what's being said. I approach this from the point of view of a family lawyer advising someone. The fact is without it in writing the scope is there to argue whether or not there was consent, hence some countries at border control want to see it written, and our government's advice is to get it in writing www.gov.uk/permission-take-child-abroad
Getting it in writing avoids any scope for an allegation and thus offence.

Yes it’s why you need to see a qualified solicitor yourself the law needs to be applied to your own particular circumstances. So the ridiculous “is it right to get married” question for example is entirely situation specific. I’ve had clients I’ve told to get married asap and ones I’ve told definitely not to.