Olive is an experienced lawyer who advises on all aspects of family law and typically represents clients with mid-high net worth or those with an international element and has particular expertise in Kenyan family law where she will be a dual-qualified lawyer upon admission in 2024 and is also fluent in Swahili.
In addition to general family matters, Olive frequently guides clients through complex financial matters post-separation, including family businesses and pensions. She also has experience drafting and reviewing pre- and post-nuptial agreements and advising non-married couples.
Another area of expertise for Olive is in acting for clients on a broad range of children matters including but not limited to abductions, relocations and high-conflict children cases.
I wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude for all the support you've provided me throughout this challenging journey.
M.T – Client
Thank you for all your hard work over the past year. You’ve been a fantastic lawyer.
N.S – Client
Thank you so much for being such a capable resource during this past season.
G.R – Client
Expertise
- Divorce (including international aspects)
- Financial settlement on divorce
- Children matters to include child arrangements and relocation (domestic and international)
- Cohabitation disputes, cohabitation and separation agreements
- Schedule 1 Children Act matters
- Pre- and post-nuptial agreements
- Domestic abuse
- Resolution of matters through ADR (early neutral evaluation, advice during mediation, arbitration and solicitor negotiation)
- Kenya-specific divorce, settlement of matrimonial property, arrangements for and relocation of children, and succession matters
Experience
Divorce and division of finances on divorce
- Acted for a businessman in complex financial proceedings with two sets of intervenors. The matter concluded in arbitration.
- Advised a client in a Kenya/UK jurisdiction race involving divorce proceedings.
- Acted for various clients with public sector pensions, specifically the police and NHS.
- Acted for a husband in successfully opposing a spousal maintenance variation application seeking to extend the term of the order and secured a costs order.
- Assisted in the first English jurisdiction case to be heard in the recently formed Abu-Dhabi court designated for family cases for non-Muslims.
Children
- Represented a mother in her relocation application to Cyprus with an autistic child and successfully argued that the change would be in the best interests of the child.
- Acted for a client whose child had been abducted from Kenya (a non-Hague country) to the UK and secured a return to the jurisdiction of her habitual residence.
- Represented a client in her special guardianship application for her niece following the mother’s sudden death.
- Acted for a client seeking his daughter’s relocation from Kenya to the UK.
Wealth protection agreements
- Acted for a client in a pre-nuptial matter involving family assets of just under £300 million, mainly held in family trusts.
Domestic abuse
- Acted for a victim of domestic abuse to secure safe return to his home to the exclusion of his abusive partner. Successfully obtained a child arrangements order for the children to live with him.
Africa (Kenya)
- Acted for a client seeking his daughter’s relocation from Kenya to the UK.
- Acted for a client whose child had been abducted from Kenya (a non-Hague country) to the UK and secured a return to the jurisdiction of her habitual residence.
- Advised a client in a Kenya/UK jurisdiction race involving divorce proceedings.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
Recognised as a key lawyer by The Legal 500 2024
“highly intelligent and has a professional maturity and sound judgement”
Recognised as a key lawyer by The Legal 500 2021
“Olive Gathoni has the respect of her clients and a good steer on how to get the right result for them.”
Member of Resolution
Frequent media commentator
Panel member on Global Strategies for Managing Wealth Post-Divorce, hosted by Thought Leaders 4
Career
Olive qualified as a solicitor in 2015. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2024, she worked at the following firms:
- Burgess Mee Family Law
- The International Family Law Group
- Slater & Gordon Lawyers