If you are involved in farming and you are facing relationship breakdown, our specialist divorce lawyers can help. Our team has particular expertise in dealing with the issues which arise for farmers and their spouses going through a divorce, and have acted in a number of high-value farming divorce cases with successful outcomes for our clients, both litigated and negotiated. We have also "written the book" on this area of the law, with Lucia Clark's publication of 'A Practical Guide to Divorce and Farming in Scotland'.
Farming Divorce: How our specialist family lawyers can help you
We understand that farmers' priorities are often different to those of city dwellers. You may have inherited your farming interest and hold this with other members of your family, or you may be keen to ensure succession to the next generation. As well as being spouses, you may also be partners or shareholders in the farm business and need help to navigate what this means for your matrimonial finances and put new arrangements in place.
If you are married to a farmer, you will want to understand the implications of the business structure and land ownership for your claim for financial provision. You may also need to explore how your non-financial contributions over the years may be recognised by the law.
Our family lawyers and divorce specialists have not only the expertise to answer these questions, but also the support of our colleagues in our agricultural, corporate and trust and tax teams for specialist input, and we can call on an extensive network of professional advisers (such as land and agricultural valuers and accountants) with whom we have worked in previous farming cases. We are familiar with considering and valuing assets particular to farming cases, such as EU subsidies, stock and machinery, and planning issues.
We also know how hard you work, and that you won't want to spend any more time in our offices poring over paperwork than you have to. Furthermore, we understand that discretion is particularly important in rural communities, and you can count on complete confidentiality throughout the process.