Driven by knowledge and experience

Family Law

Eugene Davy is one of Irelands best known family lawyers. He has been practising family law for over 25 years and has been involved in many complex landmark cases in that time. He is a former Chairman of the Law Societys Family Law Committee, is co-author of Family Law, published by Blackstone Press, and has lectured extensively on the area.

The family law team has many years of experience in the area of family law. We have acted in many of the landmark cases and sound judgement coupled with formidable negotiating skills mean that we achieve high levels of settlement and client satisfaction. The main areas of family law in which we practice are:

  • divorce
  • separation
  • nullity
  • maintenance
  • children issues - custody/access/maintenance
  • non-marital relationships
  • pre marriage advice
  • succession rights
  • cohabitation issues
  • recognition of foreign divorces

Separation and Divorce

Separation and Divorce are traumatic life events and an extremely stressful time for those going through a relationship breakdown, especially when children are involved. Clients will be supported through the whole process with professionalism and sensitivity and will be kept informed at every stage. Our skills and reputation are consistently reinforced in the fast changing world of family law by dealing with a wide range of cases, from relatively straight forward cases to landmark and big money cases, often with an international element.

The main focus in cases now is on financial security and fairness rather than stigma and fault. When acting for clients going through a relationship breakdown we:

  • recognise that each client is a unique individual and that each case different with its own unique circumstances. Our aim is to build a relationship of trust with each client based on openness, accessibility, a detailed knowledge of their situation and many years of experience.
  • focus on the key issues and provide realistic advice and objectives against a backdrop of the Irish Courts wide discretion in deciding how matters are to be determined
  • operate in conjunction with our clients in strategic decision-making to achieve a fair settlement for them. Only a minority of our cases proceed to a contested final Court hearing
  • act immediately, working where necessary with other specialists such as accountants, valuers, pension consultants and barristers, to ascertain and value assets, understand complex financial structures and to ensure that a clients spouse does not hide or dissipate the resources of the marriage.

Cohabitation

Relationships outside marriage have no special status in Ireland and when partners separate they must rely for the most part on a complex web of property law to establish who owns what. We can cut through these complexities and:

  • give early, expert advice and therefore cost-effective advice
  • act for clients in complex personal circumstances
  • obtain financial provision for children whose parents never marry a sensitive and evolving area
  • advise on rights and responsibilities in non-marital relationships.

Collaborative Law

The breakdown of a relationship is never easy and no matter how it arises, confrontation over the terms of the separation will make things even more difficult. Collaborative law is a process whereby a couple engages in a series of face to face meetings with their lawyers to try and find a fair and sensible solution that benefits the whole family.

The key element of this process is that the parties and their lawyers will sign a Participation Agreement whereby all parties agree not to issue Court proceedings (if you do wish to issue proceedings you will therefore have to instruct a different lawyer). Once the agreement is finalised the lawyers will draw up a formal document to be signed by the parties and, if necessary, presented to the Court to be made into a binding Court Order. All of our family law team are trained collaborative lawyers.