The Best Family
Lawyers In Edinburgh

JOHNSON LEGAL FAMILY LAW

We are a team of experts working exclusively in Family Law.

We listen so we can provide the relevant knowledge, support, and consider options to allow you to move forward.

We are here when you need us and appreciate that may be outside normal office hours.

We work in partnership with you every step of the way.

We are a respected team of specialist lawyers working exclusively in family law based in Edinburgh but working across the whole of Scotland.

We are driven by a person-centered approach, enabling you to speak openly and honestly to us, even at the most upsetting and difficult time in your life; we minimize stress by giving you just the right mix of hard facts and solid advice, along with considered options, to secure the most cost-effective outcome.

We navigate the complex legal jargon because that’s our job – and because you shouldn’t have to.

SKO FAMILY LAW SPECIALISTS

SKO is the largest niche family law practice in Scotland. Practicing from Edinburgh and London, we are top-ranked for family law in Scotland in The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners UK guide to the legal profession.

We have unrivaled expertise and experience in family law and reputation management practice. We have four family mediators; three family arbitrators; three collaborative family lawyers and ten solicitors, all of whom undertake exclusively family law and reputation management work. The lawyers are assisted by dedicated and diligent support staff who have years of experience in family law.

We practice exclusively Scots family law, although many of our clients are ex-pats or work in England and Wales or abroad. Our preference is for an independent, multi-disciplinary team approach, which allows us to work with other specialists- family lawyers in other jurisdictions; tax, family office, reputation, and crisis management consultants, corporate, immigration, property, or employment lawyers; accountants, wealth management advisors and trustees. We can pull together highly effective teams, which best serve the unique needs of each and every client.

FAMILY LAW EDINBURGH

Family Law Edinburgh is operated on behalf of trusted and friendly Edinburgh firm, Gibson Kerr Law. Our expert lawyers provide specialist advice on all aspects of family law in Scotland. Our office is in Edinburgh city centre for face to face meetings and we regularly advise clients throughout Scotland.

Our Edinburgh family lawyers have expertise in:

• Divorce
• Separation Agreements
• Child Custody
• Civil Partnerships
• Cohabitation
• Prenuptial Agreements
• Adopting a Child
• Child Abduction
• Pensions

Going through a divorce or separation is an extremely difficult time for a family. There are usually many important matters that need to be sorted out, such as financial matters, home ownership and the division of assets.

Our team are highly experienced in guiding families through separation and divorce in as amicable a manner as possible. Our team are members of Consenus Collaboration Scotland, a network of Scottish family lawyers and family consultants committed to helping families resolve disputes and separate in a non-confrontational way.

The ground for divorce in Scotland is irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. This can be demonstrated in a number of ways, but the majority of divorces are based on the ground of one or two years’ separation.

Some couples will qualify for a Simplified Procedure divorce. This is sometimes called a quickie or DIY divorce. Couples intending to divorce using this procedure must be basing the divorce on one or two years’ separation. They must also have no children under the age of 16.

Our team can listen to your problem, let you know the options that are available to you and advise you on how to move forwards.

GIBSON KERR

We have been established in Edinburgh for over a hundred years so we bring continuity and stability to our work. Read about the history of the firm.

We are a small team of experts specializing in the three areas of family law, personal law, and property. We don’t do volume work so every client of ours is important to us. We get to know our clients well so we can offer a tailor-made service that is best for you.

Our lawyers are experts in their own field with many years of experience and the recognition of training, accreditations, and membership in professional bodies.

We will listen to you and understand your legal problem. We will respond to you quickly and speak to you honestly and in plain English.

We will tell you when you need advice from other professionals and we will arrange the best professionals for you if you ask us to.

We will discuss fees with you at the outset and agree with you on how and when these will be paid, and we will keep you up to date with fees as your case progresses.

We will always do our best for you.

HARPER MACLEOD LLP

Harper Macleod’s roots go back to 1988, when Lorne Crerar, later to become Professor Lorne Crerar CBE and chairman of the firm, led a small group, with another partner, and converted the nascent business division of a Glasgow court firm into a separate commercial practice. Professor Crerar was warned by stalwarts of the profession that building a commercial law firm of scale from scratch just couldn’t be done, a challenge that was readily taken up. Harpers, as the legal startup was known, subsequently took over a niche corporate firm called Macleods to become Harper Macleod, and the rest is history.

In 2002, Martin Darroch joined the firm as Finance Director and in 2006 became the first-ever non-lawyer Chief Executive of a Scottish law firm. The firm’s growth was meteoric, expanding its footprint all over Scotland as it quickly became one of the country’s leading firms and a pioneer in changing the way legal partnerships operated. From the start, Harper Macleod was a business that just happened to be a law firm.

Today, Harper Macleod is one of the largest professional partnerships in Scotland, serving clients and their interests in Scotland, the UK and beyond. The firm has grown consistently in scale, in finances and also in terms of the role it plays in the civic and economic community across Scotland.

The firm’s core values have remained consistent over many years. We are:

• Entrepreneurial & Innovative
• Open & Collaborative
• Responsible & Ethical

MORTON FRASER LAWYERS

We believe greater clarity is borne from diversity.

Morton Fraser is a firm that looks to the future. And there are many things that we do today that will help clarify tomorrow’s potential to be a better place to live and work. We work with charities to raise awareness and funds, as well as offering pro bono services, advice and facilities.

We teach and help nurture tomorrow’s legal and business expertise by lecturing and mentoring within educational institutions. But crucially, we understand, that in order to achieve clarity within the bigger picture, we need a wide and diverse range of opinions and backgrounds. We, therefore, rely on talent from a wide range of backgrounds, religions, sexualities, and ethnicities. Morton Fraser is indeed a collective of individuals, but together, we not only strive for clarity but a better and fairer tomorrow.

We provide support to a number of charities in a variety of ways. Find out more about the activities and fundraising we get involved in.

Celebrating diversity and operating in an inclusive manner are core elements to ensuring we remain a successful firm. Find out about our steps to achieve this.

Our pro bono work supports a range of activities and institutions. Find out more about the legal advice we provide to those people and places that need it.

We make every effort to limit the environmental impact of our business. Find out about the range of initiatives in place to achieve this.

LINDSAYS LLP

It’s no coincidence that some clients have been with us for decades or even centuries: we are committed to building relationships and understanding your needs – whether that’s your own, those of a relative, or those of your business

We work with people over a lifetime. By taking the trouble to find out about your circumstances, we can help you plan for the unexpected as well as the expected. In addition to dealing with specific situations or issues, we can ensure that other problems do not arise.

Many clients have been with us for decades – not just as individuals, but also as senior decision makers in businesses (often their own) or in their roles in other sectors such as education or not-for-profit. Because we work for them holistically, we can support them at all stages of the journey through life – work, family, property, retirement, tax, and any other problems that crop up on the way. We can do the same for you.

Having started life as a private-client firm, we understand the importance of relationships. So nowadays we combine the traditional values of getting to know people and their families, with the resources of a large, modern firm.

DRUMMOND MILLER LLP

Drummond Miller is a leading firm of solicitors with offices in 5 locations throughout central Scotland and comprises 14 Partners and over 100 staff.

Our firm has a long-standing reputation for excellence in various areas of the law of Scotland. We are committed to providing a first-class service to our clients by understanding their needs and delivering common sense legal advice and practical solutions to their requirements./p>

There is great strength and depth of legal expertise within our firm. The way in which we organize our business allows us to provide a specialized legal service at a price that is affordable to all of our clients. Although our solicitors are spread across a network of branches, they are organized into teams according to their own specialist areas of legal work. This ensures that whilst your day-to-day dealings maybe with your local branch, your case or transaction will be supervised by one of our solicitors who is an expert in that particular area of the law./p>

Drummond Miller is committed to providing a high standard of legal service. We recognize the level of importance that our clients place on their cases or transactions so we listen carefully to your requirements and respond quickly with the appropriate advice or action./p> CONTACT – DRUMMOND MILLER LLP

THORLEY STEPHENSON SSC

Our family law team continues to expand to meet the demands of the ever-growing client base with highly experienced secretarial staff dedicated to this area of work. The group has been nominated for the family law team of the year in the 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 Law Awards of Scotland.

Our solicitors are experienced in dealing with all aspects of family law and all regularly appear in court. Each solicitor conducts, on average, 200 Child Welfare Hearings a year in addition to Evidential Proof Hearings, Debates and Appeals. We continue to provide a high level of service to birth families in cases involving compulsory social work care of children.

The family law team’s position at the forefront of the development of Scottish law is evidenced by the increasing number of law reports containing Thorley Stephenson case law, particularly in relation to cases involving relocation abroad of children, the Children’s Hearing system and the new permanence order/adoption legislation introduced by the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007.

We advise on all aspects of family law including:

• Divorce
• Adoption
• Child Residence & Contact

CATH KARLIN FAMILY LAW

25 years of experience…

Cath Karlin family law is a niche, highly specialist family law practice based in Edinburgh. I have offices that are centrally located in Edinburgh (15/16 Queen Street). I am a highly respected family lawyer with years of experience and expertise. I have been at the forefront of family law in Edinburgh for 25 years. Over the years I have been the lead partner in a number of groundbreaking families’ law cases. I have also been at the forefront of introducing new modes of dispute resolution to Scotland such as Collaborative Practice and other positive initiatives such as parenting after parting classes for parents going through separation and divorce.

I am ranked in both Chambers and the Legal 500. You can also read my reviews and what my clients think. I am a CALM mediator, Collaborative Lawyer, and FLAGS arbitrator, and have been accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a Family law specialist for more years than I care to remember!

If you need think I can help with your situation, feel free to contact me If you’d like to arrange a consultation or find out if I can help you. I understand that being able to budget for costs is really important so I make sure my costs don’t cost the earth. Get in touch to request a quote.