Family Law Department
Specialist in family law and dispute resolution
- Divorce and separation
- Financial settlements and orders relating to family finances and property
- Prenuptial agreements
- Cohabitation agreements
- Adoption
- Domestic violence
- Family breakdown
- Children’s arrangements and orders, including access and care (custody)
- Collaborative law – for couples seeking an amicable divorce
- Resolution member – avoiding confrontation and reducing costs
About Alison
Alison finds solutions for even the most difficult, long-running or heated disagreements.
Our resident family law specialist, Alison brings calm, sensitivity and experience to difficult and emotional areas of family law. Her naturally collaborative nature and clear understanding of the psychology of divorce have proven invaluable, enabling Alison to find solutions for even the most high-conflict cases of family breakdown, divorce, separation, children’s arrangements and financial disputes.
Alison is an accredited member of Resolution, which promotes finding amicable, non-confrontational solutions for marital disputes. This can be especially helpful if there are children involved. It also helps to keep costs down.
She is also a trained Collaborative lawyer, which means Alison encourages divorcing clients to sit down around the table, with their lawyers, to find a less confrontational, more respectful way to settle their divorce.
Alison’s career
An experienced and highly regarded solicitor with more than 20 years of experience, Alison joined Horsey Lightly Solicitors in 2017 as Head of the Family Law Department, having previously held the role within firms in Windsor, Marlow and Maidenhead.
Under Alison’s care, the department has gone from strength to strength, with many clients returning to the firm for legal advice in other areas of their lives.
Some of Alison’s work highlights
- Successfully opposing a husband’s application for a divorce and assisting the wife, Alison’s client, in her cross-application for a divorce and resulting financial settlement.
- Representing a high-earning husband in acrimonious divorce and finances court proceedings. The resulting proposed financial settlement, known as a consent order, was agreed to by both parties, avoiding further stress and legal fees.
- Negotiating a financial settlement that was agreeable for all, and an amicable divorce for a couple at a round-table meeting that included Alison’s client, his wife and her lawyer.
- Representing a wife in enforcement proceedings against her ex-husband, who hadn’t transferred property into her sole name. The order was enforced and the husband has now made the transfer to our client, who can now move on with her life.
- Gaining permission through the courts for a father, whose ex-wife had prevented him from seeing his children, to have regular contact with his sons.
- Achieving a fair financial settlement for a wife in her divorce, which took into account the needs of the couple’s autistic child.
- Providing advice, both legal and practical, to a wife who was suffering emotional and domestic abuse from her husband during their divorce proceedings. This enabled the couple to reach a settlement agreement, with the wife staying in the family home – which the husband left sooner than if they’d had to wait to go to court. It also avoided the additional stress and cost of a court trial.
- Assisting with financial and property related matters following the breakdown of a client’s relationship with her lesbian partner.
“Thank you so much for all your support and advice that you have given me.
You have seen me through the most difficult time. You have been so approachable and professional throughout and no question I asked you was unimportant.
The service I received was fantastic and I will certainly recommend you and Horsey Lightly in the future.”
Mrs F
Life beyond the office
When she’s not creating order out of chaos, Alison likes getting out, whether that’s with her family, travelling or enjoying the arts. She’s also a dab hand at baking, which she really needs to prove to the office more often – hint Alison!