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Getting Help to Pay for Legal Costs Irena Osborne Legal aid is the use of public funds to help to pay for legal advice, family mediation and court representation. The Legal Aid Agency  is in charge of providing legal aid in England and Wales.

Digital divorce portal becomes mandatory on the 13th September 2021. For further information contact Karen Newman or one of the team by  contact BH&O either by telephone or by email 

If you are a parent thinking about divorce or separation, one of your biggest worries is likely to be about your children: where they will live, and how they will continue to have a meaningful relationship with both parents. Resolution

On Monday 07th June, in answer to a Parliamentary question, the government committed to the introduction of the new no fault divorce being up and running on  the 6th April 2022.  This is later than anticipated, but it provides a clear committed

The long awaited judgment on four linked appeals heard by the Court of Appeal has now been handed down.  The Judgment is likely to have a big impact on the way that the family court treat allegations of domestic abuse and

International women’s day this year must for many working women take on a greater significance? Most of us have spent the last 12 months going through so many different phases and back again! Homeschooling, Lockdown, ‘rule of six’, working from

As Court delays are here to stay, you could try alternative dispute resolution. It has recently been reported in a leading legal journal, the Gazette Online, that Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service estimates that private law family cases may

The team at BH&O have been working harder than ever throughout this year but still had time to do some charity work for those less fortunate. Throughout November and December, we have been collecting gifts and also acting as a

Well so far this year has been somewhat different to what we all had planned. Back at the start of the year, we could not imagine how we would all have been affected by the global pandemic of Covid-19. I

Grandparents Day approaches this weekend and this year, it must surely take on a greater significance? We are in the middle of a pandemic, and the country is facing stricter restrictions on who we can meet and where we can

When we formed this firm just over two years ago, whilst we set out to establish a modern, innovative law firm for the 21st Century, we did so in a very historic building, in Abingdon, which also happens to be

During August, I completed my apprenticeship. I came to Boardman, Hawkins & Osborne LLP in May 2019 to start an apprenticeship in business administration at NVQ level 2. The apprenticeship was through Abingdon & Witney College. My apprenticeship was due

2020 has been an odd year for us all but on 1 September BH&O LLP turns two years old. Like other lockdown birthdays it’s hard to know how to celebrate but it’s an anniversary we want to mark. In 2020

As a firm we are continually monitoring the coronavirus outbreak, and considering what contingency measures we may need to put in place should the situation escalate. We obviously hope that such measures will not prove necessary. However, we are determined

Article originally published on transparencyproject.org.uk The background  The appellant is the great-aunt of J, a child who was the focus of care proceedings that began in 2017. J’s mother accepted early on that she could not care for him and

Coming to meet your Solicitor for the first time might feel like a nerve wracking prospect – “what will they be like?”, “will they be easy to talk to?”, “what questions will they ask me?”.  The first meeting is a

Family Mediation Week has come around again. But what is family mediation? Put simply, it’s a way of resolving disputes which have arisen upon separation, or of deciding how to organise your lives separately. I believe that it can be

We’ve had a busy few months at BH&O but we’ve also not forgotten to support the charities and agencies we work with, or who we know support clients and those in need, both locally, regionally and nationally. We have again

Christmas is a very busy period and can be very stressful for all of us, but is particularly stressful for those families who are separated and the children have to share their times between two homes. So how do you

5th to 11th October is Kinship Care week.  At BH&O, we know what a great job many grandparents, aunts and uncles and relatives are doing in looking after children who might otherwise be in the care system or placed for

Last night BH&O sponsored the launch of a new play written by local play-write Gaye Poole, Happy Even After.  Human Story Theatre Company have been working with a number of partner organisations including Thames Valley’s Reducing the Risk, A2 Dominion,

One of the most common enquiries we get is from birth parents who want to challenge a decision to remove their child permanently. They phrase it in many different ways but in essence they want to know how to stop

When Emily, Irena and I started planning this firm, we wanted to create a modern thinking innovative specialist family law firm.  We think we have succeeded.  But little did we know when we started our planning, that we would end

Yesterday was the first anniversary of opening this firm and I could not be prouder to announce that we have been named as a finalist in the Family Law Awards 2019 in the category of Family Law Firm of the

First published in Family Law “Call for inquiry into abusive parents’ access to children” was the story on the BBC website on Thursday (15 May). It plugged a feature on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme. For early birds the story

Prenuptial agreements do not bind the courts in England & Wales. This is because the courts have a wide discretion in deciding what the financial outcome of a couple’s divorce might be. So what is the point of a pre-nup?

I remember many years ago hearing about a firm who were offering clients therapy alongside their divorce. It was a long time before Ruth, Irena and I decided to open Boardman, Hawkins & Osborne but it stayed with me. I

Boardman Hawkins & Osborne are delighted to be taking part in this year’s Great Legal Bake Off, organised by the Access to Justice Foundation. We are able to nominate our fundraising to go to local advice charities, so anything we

This week (21st January) is Family Mediation Week. It is designed to highlight and raise awareness of the benefits of using family mediation to resolve family disputes and issues rather than the more traditional, often more conflicting, approaches involving court

As we enter a New Year it is a time for reflection and to look forward to the coming year, and Family Law is no exception. 2018 saw some high-profile family cases in the English Courts some of which have

We’ve now been open for three months. It’s been a very busy period, which Emily has already written about. But we have not forgotten that when we planned BH&O, we wanted to do things a little differently, and not lose

On 3 September 2018 Emily Boardman, Ruth Hawkins and Irena Osborne are opening a new family law firm in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Boardman, Hawkins & Osborne LLP (BH&O LLP) is a niche family practice offering legal advice, representation and mediators who