International Family Law

Our International Family Law barristers provide a unique mix of robust advocacy, innovative thinking, and a problem-solving approach.

Our barristers understand that international child matters are demanding. We work with clients to deliver prompt and comprehensive service. We can make applications on an emergency basis, without notice to the other party, and can advise by phone in emergencies.

Our International Family Law team has the capacity to handle hearings at short notice and out of hours, as well as giving telephone and email advice to ensure clients get a swift response to issues as a case develops.

Our International Family Law team has extensive experience in handling international law matters, including:

• Under the Hague Convention 1980
• Applications involving jurisdictional issues under Brussels II Revised
• Forum non conveniens applications
• Matters involving Rule 16.4 guardians.

Our team’s high-profile work deals with individuals involved in child abduction matters overseas or involved in domestic disputes where one party is applying to permanently remove a child from the jurisdiction. We have also advised national offices, such as the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan, on matters of child law as well as local authorities in cases of contested jurisdiction under Article 15 of Brussels II Revised.

Our family finance team is well versed in cross-jurisdictional finance disputes, where there is a question of allocation of maintenance, division of assets and finances, regulatory jurisdiction, or residual discretionary power. We have experience in appellate work, with cases involving Brussels I Recast, Brussels II Revised, and the Maintenance Regulation.

We were leading counsel on Villiers v Villiers [2018] EWCA Civ 1120, a leading spousal maintenance case involving English and Scottish jurisdiction which received national media coverage. Cross-border conundrums such as this are highly complex, involving the division of high-value assets, interpretation of multiple legislation, and are precedent-setting.

Our members speak multiple languages: French, Italian, German, Hindi, Punjabi, Spanish, and Farsi. Coram provides a full and bespoke out of court Dispute Resolution service which utilises the expert skills of our family barristers as mediators, arbitrators and through neutral evaluation (private FDR hearings). The expertise of several of our members is recognised by the most prominent directories, Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500.