Bethan is a family associate who advises on all aspects of family law. Specifically, Bethan guides clients through divorce and finance processes, often involving an international element, as well as contact arrangements for children, including complex private Children Act Proceedings. In addition, Bethan advises and represents clients in urgent injunction proceedings, including non-molestation orders.
Bethan also has experience working on contentious Schedule 1 and TOLATA proceedings.
I cannot speak highly enough about Bethan, and what she has done for my family. Bethan’s skillset, the experience she has and her capability is beyond anything that I had hoped for. I really couldn’t have achieved what I have without Bethan, and I am forever thankful to Bethan.
Ms R (Children Act proceedings client)
Expertise
- Divorce and dissolution of civil partnerships
- Division of finances on divorce
- Children disputes, including child arrangements orders, prohibited steps orders and specific issue orders
- Complex Children Act Proceedings to include finding of fact hearings and international elements.
- Complex contested Financial Remedy Proceedings
- Schedule 1 and TOLATA Proceedings
Experience
Division of Finances on Divorce
- Advised the client to mutually stay divorce proceedings with the husband for an agreed period of six months in order to assist the parties to reach a financial settlement.
- Advised and attended a roundtable meeting in order to reach a financial settlement which included provision for the client to relocate to Italy from London with two dependent children.
- Advised and undertook a round-table meeting providing the client with the majority share of the assets with a 63% split in her favour. The client had made no financial contribution during the marriage.
- Successfully assisted the client obtain a large pension share of the other party’s redundancy package and pension, despite the parties being separated for over 10 years.
- Advised on complex financial remedy proceedings which included a large property portfolio and estate agent businesses as well as international-based assets in Dubai and UAE.
Children
- Advised on a complex Private Children Act proceedings where there were concerns for both mother and father’s mental health (acted for father). Assisted the client successfully arguing that a Part 25 Psychological Assessment was required of both parties, as well as joining the child to proceedings with a Guardian appointed under Rule 16.4. Successfully obtained contact for the father when at the outset, mother refused to allow contact.
- Advised a mother in making an application to vary the previous consent order as a result of very serious concerns against father regarding sexual abuse, and mental health diagnoses that were not being managed by the father.
- Advised a mother to argue that a section 91(14) order should be made against the father, to prevent the father from making any further child arrangements applications to the court for an extensive period of time, without first seeking permission from a judge.
- Advised a father to make an urgent application for a prohibited steps order to prevent the mother from travelling to Russia with their child. Both the mother and child had Russian passports and so the concern was very high.
- Advised the mother to make an urgent application to enforce a CAO as a result of the father withholding the child for over a week. Both parties had made urgent applications and the judge found in favour of the mother’s arguments and the child was successfully returned to her immediately.
- Assisted with conducting multiple matters from the start (issuing a C100 application) up until a complex final hearing.
- Advised single joint experts including Part 25 psychological assessments.
- Successfully appealed an order made by a judge to dismiss an application for a finding of fact hearing. During the appeal, the appeal judge identified that the previous judge should not have dismissed the application, and our client’s application for this hearing was successfully reinstated.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Career
Bethan qualified as a solicitor in 2021. Prior to joining Keystone Law, she worked at the following firms:
- Maddox Legal
- Lawrence Stephens Ltd
- Child & Child
- Thrings LLP
- Hugh James LLP