The recently published Chambers Family Law 2026 Guide covers close to 30 jurisdictions. The guide provides the latest information on divorce processes and jurisdiction requirements, division of assets, spousal maintenance, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, child custody and child support, and ADR.

LMP’s Jeremy Levison, Miranda Green and Alex Bartlett have provided the overview for the Guide’s key jurisdiction of England & Wales.

“This was the most natural chapter for us to write as this is the jurisdiction in which we operate,” explains partner Miranda Green. “The divorce process has indeed been streamlined considerably since April 2022 with the introduction of no-fault legislation. It is still, however, a hugely complex process and we were happy to contribute to this Guide believing that being better informed from the start will provide a positive opportunity for couples to work together to achieve mutually acceptable arrangements for the future.”

Levison Meltzer Pigott (LMP) is once again recognised in The Times’ list of the top 250 legal practices in England and Wales.

The research was carried out by Statista, an international market research firm, which asked lawyers to recommend the best law firms in any of 28 categories covering business, public and private-client fields. To make sure that the survey was fair, respondents were not allowed to choose their own law firm and technology and other scrutiny was put in place to prevent anyone from voting more than once. Those with the most votes from more than 3,900 respondents made it into The Times Best Law Firms 2026.

Managing Partner Simon Pigott is delighted with the recognition:

“We are pleased to be acknowledged in this elite listing, referred to as the “lawyers’ lawyers” and endorsed by The Times brand. This continued validation is a credit to the LMP team as a whole and we are grateful to each individual member for playing their part in our continuing success.”

The full list of 250 firms was published in last Thursday’s Times online and the full results can be accessed online here, by those who have a subscription.

LMP partner Alison Hayes has featured in a Tatler article written by Annabelle Spranklen as she looks at Standish v Standish and what promises to be a landmark divorce case, which began in the UK Supreme Court last month.

Annabelle prefaces the article saying that Standish v Standish is “one of the most significant cases on financial settlements to reach the highest court in nearly two decades and it raises a vital question: should assets acquired before a wedding – often referred to as non-matrimonial property – be shared when the marriage breaks down?

Alison was one of the legal experts approached for comment and she highlighted the need for all private wealth advisers to have a more a holistic approach to protecting family assets and safeguarding legacy wealth and that ‘there is most definitely a steady increase in the number of prenuptial agreements being used and increasing momentum from the older generations, for these agreements to be considered essential for younger members of wealthy families who are looking to marry.’

The Times newspaper has selected LMP founding partner Simon Pigott, who acted for the husband in Rotenberg v Rotenberg & Ors [2024] EWFC 185, to be its featured lawyer this week.

In today’s column written by Catherine Baksi, Simon highlighted the unusual challenge of the case being that he never met his client face to face; nominated the late Blanche Lucas, the doyenne of family law in the late 1970s and early 1980s as the person in law he most admired; underlined the current discrimination of unmarried couples as the law to change; confessed to being inadvertently locked in a police cell as being one of funniest things that ever happened to him, or at least his client thought so and finally, choosing the “happy memories” associated with a mojito to be  his favourite cocktail.

If you’re a subscriber to The Times, then you can read the full feature here.

You can also read the case note, written by Lucy Hoare here

LMP partner Alison Hayes has featured in a Tatler article written by Annabelle Spranklen on divorce U-turns, a topic inspired by celebrity Rory McIlroy calling off divorce proceedings

Annabelle prefaces the article with: “Last month, it was revealed that pro-golfer Rory McIlroy had filed for a divorce from wife Erica Stoll after seven years of marriage. However, in a dramatic U-turn, the petition was voluntarily dismissed just weeks later. According to The Telegraph, friends maintain that McIlroy’s main priority is to keep the family together. ‘He doesn’t care about money,’ said one. Whatever might have gone on behind closed doors, the couple have avoided a costly divorce – McIlroy, after all, is one of the UK’s richest sportsmen – worth an estimated £312 million.”

Alison was one of the legal experts approached for comment beginning with the explanation of the legal context:

 ‘An application to the Court can be made to withdraw the divorce application, but this must be made before the pronouncement of the Final Order (previously Decree Absolute). If the application for the divorce has been made jointly, both parties will need to provide their written consent to the Court for the application to be withdrawn. Similarly, if both parties are in agreement any financial remedy proceedings can be withdrawn by a joint application to the Court. In short therefore, provided the Final Order in the divorce proceedings has not been pronounced, the parties can reconcile very late in the day.’

Annabelle explores the financial motivations of calling off a divorce and concludes the article with Alison concurring with other contributors that divorce lawyers need to remain wary of a change in heart:

‘Since one has taken the step to go down the divorce route in the first place, any reconciliation is unlikely to be plain sailing since there are likely to remain difficulties in their relationship. Wearing my cynical hat, any attempted reconciliation can lead to a less than honest spouse having the opportunity to move various assets around and to structure their affairs in a way whereby in any future divorce, it may make it more difficult for there to be asset tracing exercises etc.’

Benjamin Stowe started the new year as an expert guest on Times Radio.

On the 2^nd January, Ben, calling on his mobile from a train in Wakefield, joined Ed Vaizey, sitting in for Mariella Frostrup, to debate the validity of the Legal & General report that this year, because of the current cost of living crisis, more than 270,000 couples have delayed splitting up.

The Legal & General research claimed that financial pressures delayed 19% of divorces this year citing the impact has been particularly pronounced since 2020, as a result of income concerns, cost of living pressures and the price of divorce.

Ben did not quite agree with the findings stating that in his experience, whilst financial pressures may impact on the health of a relationship, pressures are more likely, rather than less likely to result in clients turning to him for advice. Ben suggested that financial pressures “drive people to divorce rather than postpone it”. He also stressed that these financial pressures are “never-ending” citing the Covid pandemic, Brexit and the recession.

Co-expert, psychotherapist Lucy Beresford, concurred with Ben that there have always been financial pressures which delay divorce but feels that it is more about new year being a turning point when people reflect how they want their lives to be.

You can listen to the full interview here – scroll to 1.25