The government's long-awaited consultation on cohabitation reform has received a mixed reaction from professionals. 

To make sense of the proposals the Today's Family Lawyer Podcast welcomes Partner and Head of Family at William Sturges Graeme Fraser. Fraser is renowned for his campaigning and expertise in cohabitation reform and alongside his many media appearances, is also Chair of Resolution’s Cohabitation Committee.

So who better to ask about the far-reaching consultation and wider family law modernisation?

The consultation is both ambitious and surprisingly comprehensive says Fraser, taking into account the previous work done on financial remedies, nuptial agreements, wedding reform and the Law Commission's proposals on will writing reform. This joined up approach is to be applauded says Fraser arguing that family law has become increasingly fragmented and difficult for non-lawyers to understand. He suggests the consultation reflects a deliberate attempt to modernise legislation and create a framework that is clearer, more accessible, and better aligned with contemporary family life.

There is a clear disconnect between modern relationships and outdated legal structures; cohabitation law has simply failed to keep pace with social change, despite a growing proportion of couples choosing not to marry. One simple example being the “common law marriage” myth which leaves vulnerable people, particularly women and parents, without adequate legal protection when relationships break down.

On financial remedies the consultation seeks to codify decades of case law into legislation that is easier to understand. The proposals focus largely on the principles of “needs” and “sharing,” while attempting to define key concepts more clearly than current legislation allows. Fraser notes one of the consultation’s most significant and unexpected features is its proposal that cohabitation claims should be based primarily on needs rather than compensation, representing a departure from earlier recommendations made by the Law Commission.

The conversation explores eligibility under the proposed cohabitation framework where Fraser emphasises the qualification period must not be set so high that the legislation becomes inaccessible to those who need it most; and proposals to allow couples to opt out of the new cohabitation regime. Cohabitation differs fundamentally from marriage because individuals have not entered into a formal legal contract, but the proposals do leave room for potential abuse or coercion. Robust safeguards, legal advice, improved screening processes, and wider awareness of domestic abuse issues will be essential to ensure vulnerable individuals are adequately protected. Greater certainty around nuptial agreements is welcome adds Fraser. 

The speed of political change is evident in the fact the consultation was launched by Sir Keir Starmer's government, and concluded under Andy Burnham; is there a risk then it could all be for nought? 

Fraser remains cautiously optimistic. He points to the significant work already undertaken by the Ministry of Justice, extensive stakeholder engagement, and the strong policy rationale underpinning the proposals. While acknowledging that parliamentary time remains a challenge, he argues that modernising family law is both necessary and beneficial, with the potential to create fairer outcomes, reduce pressure on courts, and provide greater certainty for millions of people navigating relationships and family life.

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk. 

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Divorce coach, five-time bestselling author, founder of the International Divorce Coach Centre of Excellence, and an advocate for domestic abuse awareness, Sara Davison joins the Today's Family Lawyer podcast for a wide ranging discussion exploring the growing role of divorce coaches within the family justice landscape and explaining how family lawyers and coaches can work together to better support clients

Davison's own story is deeply personal. Following the sudden collapse of her marriage, which involved infidelity, the breakdown of a shared business, and the challenges of becoming a single parent, she struggled to find practical support that addressed the emotional realities of separation. Combining her background in business and life coaching with her own experiences, she developed a range of coaching tools designed to help people recover from heartbreak and navigate divorce more effectively. Those tools eventually formed the basis of her bestselling book Uncoupling and the coaching methodology she uses today.

Davison is keen to point to the distinct roles family lawyers and divorce coaches play, emphasising coaches do not provide legal advice; instead, they focus on the emotional, psychological and practical challenges clients face during separation. By helping individuals manage grief, fear, anger and anxiety, coaches can enable clients to make clearer decisions and engage more constructively in the legal process. This complementary relationship allows lawyers to focus on legal strategy while coaches help clients regulate emotions and overcome obstacles that might otherwise delay or complicate proceedings.

It's a scientific process; many clients become overwhelmed by fear, loneliness, or decision paralysis, particularly when children are involved. Divorce coaches can provide practical techniques to help individuals regain confidence, process difficult emotions and approach decisions with greater clarity. The discussion also highlights how unresolved emotional trauma can affect a client's ability to participate effectively in their case. 

The discussion turns to domestic abuse, and the rise of technology-facilitated abuse monitoring, controlling or intimidating former partners, creating new challenges for both victims and legal professionals. 

The final word highlights the emotional toll that complex and high-conflict cases can have on family lawyers themselves. She advocates for improved awareness, training and self-care practices to help professionals manage the demands of working with vulnerable clients and difficult situations.

Davison's own courses provide family lawyers with the tools to improve understanding of relationship breakdown, domestic abuse and trauma-informed client care. Find out more here: Breakup, Divorce & Domestic Abuse Awareness Accreditation CPD-Accredited Training for Family Law Professionals

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk. 

Subscribe to Today's Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector. Thank you to our Podcast Sponsors LEAP.

The latest Today’s Family Lawyer Podcast turns its attention to a role that is often misunderstood and undervalued in the courts system; that of intermediaries.

Intermediaries play an important role in supporting better, and more informed participation in courts. 

Rachel Cohen, director at the Intermediary Cooperative and a communication specialist, joins host David Opie to discuss the work of intermediaries in supporting witnesses, parents and participants whose communication needs make the court environment overwhelming

Cohen brings more than a decade’s experience to the role which in her words is “really narrow and very specific… simply to ensure that everybody understands what a person’s communication needs are and how most effectively they can interact with that vulnerable person.” 

The discussion highlights a shift in judicial awareness. Neurodivergence, brain injury, developmental language disorder and situational communication difficulties are now better recognised, but assumptions still creep in. Intermediaries are still left out of ground rules hearings, despite this being the very stage where their input can prevent later disruption. “It’s a brilliant time and opportunity to plan… when we’re not invited, we can be kept out of the loop.”

How can the criminal and family courts best work with intermediaries? Early engagement, says Cohen. Late referrals, sometimes just days before a hearing, leave little time to build rapport, assess fluctuating communication needs or simplify documents into accessible formats. The result can be adjournments, inefficiency and avoidable stress for vulnerable court users.

With further insight into vulnerability, neurodivergence and participation measures the podcast reminds family lawyers that participation is not a luxury, but a legal necessity.

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk. 

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After a baptism of fire when just 16 days into her new role as CEO of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) Jennifer Coupland was thrust into one of the biggest crises legal services has faced since the Legal Services Act with the Mazur ruling and subsequent appeal.

In a wide ranging discussion on the Today's Family Lawyer Podcast, Coupland discusses how she handled the immediate aftermath of the decision, the appeal, and how she plans to shape the organisation going forward after plans to bring CILEX under SRA regulation were shelved.

She leads CILEX after a successful period running the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, transforming the perception of apprenticeships into a respected and sought-after career route. She sees strong parallels with CILEX’s model of “earning while learning,” which she believes is vital for improving diversity and accessibility in the legal profession.

Although CILEX was ultimately successful in its Mazur appeal, the ordeal was a "really, really tough 10 months for some of our members" says Coupland who adds the case exposed outdated aspects of the Legal Services Act 2007 and advocates for a sector-wide review to modernise legislation.

Through the course of the podcast she also highlights the need to improve consumer understanding of legal services, particularly awareness of specialist providers and the importance of quality, regulation, and affordability. Internally, Coupland has navigated challenges around potential regulatory alignment with bodies like the SRA, ultimately pausing plans but maintaining a commitment to reducing duplication and complexity.

Looking ahead, CILEX’s five-year strategy focuses on growth, education, influencing legal reform, and raising the organisation’s profile, with member engagement seen as crucial to its future direction. 

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk. 

Subscribe to Today's Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector. Thank you to our Podcast Sponsors LEAP.

A quiet revolution is underway in family justice. In this episode of the Today’s Family Lawyer Podcast, James Evans, Head of Strategic Growth at Nova and trustee of the newly launched Separated Parenting Programme Directory, explains why a long‑standing gap in support for separated families has finally been closed.

For years, high‑quality parenting programmes have existed across England and Wales, but parents and practitioners struggled to find them. Provision was patchy. Quality varied. And in an unregulated space, it was difficult to know which programmes genuinely helped families reduce conflict and protect children.

A new Separated Parenting Programme Directory (SPPD) changes that.

Evans sets out how a coalition of leading figures, including Helen Adam, Elizabeth Coe, Beverly Sayers and Denise Ingamells, came together to build the first national, quality‑assured directory of separated parenting programmes. Their goal: to give families clear, trusted routes to early intervention, and to give professionals confidence in what they are signposting.

The directory allows parents and practitioners to search by region, delivery style, cost and programme type. Crucially, every listed programme meets agreed standards developed by experts with decades of experience in mediation, child contact and co‑parenting support.

Evans argues that the timing is critical. With court delays worsening and non‑court dispute resolution becoming central to the Family Procedure Rules, early access to effective parenting programmes can prevent cases escalating into litigation. The evidence, he says, is clear: the earlier parents engage with structured support, the more likely they are to resolve issues without going to court.

But the work isn’t finished. The charity now needs funding, wider awareness, and more programme providers to join the directory. As Evans puts it, launching the platform is only “the first domino”.

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk. 

Subscribe to Today's Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector. Thank you to our Podcast Sponsors LEAP.

The latest Today’s Family Lawyer Podcast turns its attention to one of the profession’s most persistent, and least openly discussed, challenges: the impact of maternity leave on women’s careers in law. 

While the legal sector is not alone in perpetuating the motherhood penalty, the measurable career disadvantage experienced by women after having children, the podcast explores the unique pressure the legal sector presents around billable hours, PQE structures and the absence of traditional line management which compound the issue. 

Returning mothers must “claw back” work, visibility and confidence say Sara Lyons and Hannah Bradshaw, former employment lawyers and co‑founders of Blue Sky; both of whom have personally experienced the issue and who now coach hundreds of female lawyers going through similar experiences. 

Lyons and Bradshaw are clear; this is not a theoretical concept, nor a “woke invention”, but an economic and structural reality that continues to shape women’s progression in the legal sector. 78% of women on their programme report experiencing the motherhood penalty, while 77.8% worry about the impact of maternity leave on their long‑term career prospects. These figures, they argue, should be a wake‑up call for firms that still consider themselves “equal opportunities employers” while operating within systems that are anything but gender‑neutral.

There is a cultural discomfort that surrounds maternity‑related discussions in law firms they say. Silence is damaging; women want clarity, support and honest dialogue about career progression, not well‑meaning but vague reassurances.

“You can have it all... just not all at the same time" is the mantra firms and employees need to adopt. 

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk. 

Subscribe to Today's Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector. Thank you to our Podcast Sponsors LEAP.

The Today's Family Lawyer Podcast welcomes two expert guests on to discuss a new book focused on children’s right to identity within international family law, using Article 8 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as a foundational framework. 

 Children’s Rights to Identity, Selfhood and International Family Law is edited by Marilyn Freeman, Principal Research Fellow at Westminster Law School, an associate member of the barristers’ chambers 4PB in London, Chair of the International Association of Child Law Researchers, and Director of the International; and Nicki Taylor an academic based at the University of Otago Faculty of Law in New Zealand, Secretary of the International Association of Child Law Researchers and director of the Children's Issues research Centre.

A central theme of the podcast is the profound impact that life events and legal processes can have on a child’s identity development. Drawing on their extensive experience in areas including international child abduction and relocation, the authors highlight how such events can shape how children, and later adults, understand themselves, form relationships, and navigate the world. They emphasise that identity is not static but is continuously influenced by experiences, including trauma and disruption.

Article 8, which recognises a child’s right to preserve aspects of identity such as nationality, name, and family relationships, is a “right hiding in plain sight” or a “sleeping giant,” with significant untapped potential suggests Freeman, advocating for greater use of Article 8 in legal practice, including the possibility of a formal General Comment from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to clarify and expand its application. Education on identity considerations into is also paramount.

By embedding identity considerations into legal thinking and practice, the book and its authors hope to influence how courts, practitioners, and policymakers approach family law cases

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk. 

Subscribe to Today's Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector. Thank you to our Podcast Sponsors LEAP.

In this latest Today's Family Lawyer Podcast, founders Natasha Grande and Neil Graham explain how newly launched G&G Law came about and what their motivations were behind leaving their secure and successful positions, and striking out on their own. 

With decades of experience between them, Graham specialises in prenuptial agreements to complex financial settlements at the end of long marriages. Grande describes her specialism in financial remedies and private children matters, reflecting on a career spanning nearly 30 years, much of it within top-tier Legal 500 firms. 

Despite successful and fulfilling careers in traditional firms, both lawyers describe feeling drawn towards a different way of working. 

The origins of the business goes back many years with the two having worked together previously and maintained a close professional relationship long after moving to different firms. They describe a shared philosophy centred on delivering clear, pragmatic advice, underpinned by empathy and transparency. This alignment, along with mutual trust built over years of mentoring and collaboration, eventually led to the decision to set up in partnership. Although the idea had been discussed for nearly eight years, the final decision was deliberately slow and considered, reflecting both the risks involved and the fact that neither was unhappy in their former roles.

They chose Excello Law and the consultancy model rather than as a standalone regulated practice because it didn't bring the need for substantial capital investment, long lead-in times, and the immediate burden of regulation, compliance, and infrastructure. The "house of brands" model allows them to retain their own identity as G&G Law while benefiting from an established regulatory framework, back-office support, and compliance systems from day one - essentially enabling them to hit the ground running.

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk. 

Subscribe to Today's Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector. Thank you to our Podcast Sponsors LEAP.

Charlotte Haskayne, Business Manager at Northgene, joins the Today’s Family Lawyer Podcast to lift the lid on the realities of legal DNA testing and its growing role in modern family law. 

Where is DNA evidence crucial? What role does it play in the courts? Haskayne discusses her experience with court‑ordered paternity disputes to the rapidly rising number of surrogacy‑related parental order applications; indeed surrogacy cases have “quadrupled” in the past decade, driving demand for clear, scientific confirmation of biological parentage to avoid intrusive adoption processes .

There is a short science lesson as Haskayne demystifies the process, explaining how short tandem repeat (STR) profiling is used to establish biological relationships with accuracy levels of 99.99% or higher, and why strict chain‑of‑custody procedures are essential for legal testing. As she puts it, there must be “absolutely no doubt” that samples come from the correct individuals, distinguishing legal testing from at‑home peace‑of‑mind kits .

And what about ethics... particularly the tension between a child’s right to know their biological heritage and the potential disruption to established family relationships. Ultimately, Haskayne stresses that decisions must be made “solely in the best interests of the child”, with the role of testing providers being to deliver clear, accurate, timely results to support that process .

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk. 

Subscribe to Today's Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector. Thank you to our Podcast Sponsors LEAP.

The legal profession lacks formal training on managing vicarious trauma, emotional overwhelm, and the human dynamics underpinning family breakdown, leading to family professionals' own mental health and wellbeing coming under pressure through their work. 

With 20 years' experience as a trauma specialist psychotherapist and a trained cognitive behavioural therapist, not to mention a family mediator, Sonya Black brings a huge amount of knowledge and understanding around trauma‑informed divorce‑coaching and supporting both family professionals and individuals emotionally, practically, and strategically throughout the separation process to the Today's Family Lawyer podcast. 

Indeed, she is an advocate for trauma‑informed training within firms to help lawyers understand neurobiology, manage clients more effectively, and protect their own wellbeing.

It's a mission she has launched herself into as the founder of a divorce coaching programme providing training, one‑to‑one support, and group coaching, which in her words transforms the divorce experience for clients, minimises conflict, and supports family lawyers in delivering better outcomes.

Divorce, she argues, is a significant life transition and need not be inherently traumatic if the right emotional scaffolding is in place. She emphasises the importance of recognising triggers, addressing intergenerational trauma, and ensuring children’s long‑term wellbeing by making mindful decisions that shape their memories. The discussion is framed around psychological safety, empowerment, understanding personal history, and avoiding further harm.

On her relationship with family professionals, Black explains the coach’s role as holding the client emotionally and practically so that the lawyer can focus on legal work without absorbing the full emotional burden. She highlights how unregulated stress impairs cognitive functioning, decision‑making, memory, and problem‑solving, which can significantly disrupt the legal process.

Listen in to understand more about how family professionals can protect both themselves, and their clients, through being more aware of the impact of trauma. 

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk. 

Subscribe to Today's Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector. Thank you to our Podcast Sponsors LEAP.