Lenore Rice
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The Spotlight is on Lenore Rice of Wilson Nesbitt

Lenore, you head up the Individual and Family Life Sector at Wilson Nesbitt in Belfast – how long have you been in family law?

I have been assisting families and individuals for many years now, almost too many to say.

Our main priority is a duty of care to our clients. I am a member of the Law Society Association of Northern Ireland Collaborative Family Lawyers. This means that where possible, I will try and prevent things from going to court, saving all parties a great deal of emotional stress.

We offer our clients the options, knowledge and advice to help manage their own personal and their family’s well being, especially if they are going through relationship problems or breakdowns, and they need guidance with the next steps.

We have actually launched a new guide aimed at the friends, families and colleagues of a new, potential contact or client who has had a relationship breakdown and isn’t sure what to do next. This guide is designed to help outline to them and also to their close network, how they can work together through the stages, supporting the person or family going through the separation. 

Wilson Nesbitt offers an honest service

What makes your team at Wilson Nesbitt unique?

Trust and care are two main underlying values which our team prioritises. We understand trust has to be built between client and solicitor and as we grow that relationship, we continually care for them.

We use our collective knowledge and experience to achieve the best results for our clients.  We engage fully with our clients, understand their needs and become trusted advisors. 

We are open and honest and we advise clients of the chances of success, the risks involved and on negotiating compromise settlements on relationship breakdown, financial settlements, child contact & children’s arrangements and international family matters.

We can also provide discreet advice if you are looking for a domestic violence solicitor.

It’s a journey and we help focus on the remedies that are right for them and not just take it straight to court. We offer mediation and suggest mediation at first. We’ll try a collaborative approach, I’m a collaborative-trained lawyer. We’ll try every possible avenue we can first, rather than going into this adversarial and frightening forum of court.

There is always talk about trying to keep divorce as amicable as possible, how do your team encourage that?

The team offers mediation at the outset to clients who are open to that approach.  Also the team consistently remind the client that it is a family breakdown and the welfare of all the parties should be the paramount consideration 

Our new Divorce guide promotes an overall awareness for the wide-ranging aspects of how our wellbeing can be impacted by Divorce and relationship breakdowns. Including the physical, emotional, financial, career and community strains. We would like to reach out and highlight that we can offer our clients both personal and family guidance and advice on all of these areas. Through this holistic approach, we can help our clients move forward.

When the other party simply cannot be amicable and are taking their time; generally being difficult, what can you do and how can you deal with this situation for your client?

This is a difficult one and usually the best approach is for your client to take control.  We advise our clients to stay consistent in their own actions and beliefs and any other approach could be counter-productive.

man at table with head in his hands

Now and again, here at The Group Hug we receive an email or call from someone who says that they are not pleased with the service they are getting from their current solicitor. What advice would you give to that person?

Don’t just jump ship immediately, do try and talk to your solicitor first.  We would also advise the caller to consider how far their case has come, try to identify what has gone wrong and then ascertain if the relationship with the solicitor can be salvaged.  It could be that the case has gathered momentum or has achieved an important milestone, and now at this stage, to move legal teams now could be damaging or counter-productive.

Is it easy to change solicitors if you are for example, going through the court process and are 9 months in?

It is relatively easy, apart from the fact the existing client has a ‘charge’ over the file of papers until the client settles their bill.  Often a client may not have the funds to settle the bill and therefore could be curtailed or delayed in moving whilst they negotiate settlement of the bill. 

Have you seen changes in the matters you are dealing with since Covid19?

Certainly the volume of cases has increased.  Additionally The HMRC stamp duty holiday on property purchases coupled with the fluid housing market here in NI has been interesting.  It appears to have allowed quite a few couples to address their relationship issues and agree to part company as over the course of the past 9 months or so they can both sell the house quickly and enjoy more profit to divide between them – a less tense break-up.  This is in contrast to the stock market & property crash in 2008 which caused a stressful time for couples and perhaps fuelled manys a breakdown.

Lockdown, in many ways, prompted us to create our new guide on Divorce.  We all have taken stock of everything which has happened the past year, our restricted lifestyle and access to amenities and facilities meant a lot of people had very little space and time to themselves to think. We want our guide to offer help with this, to anyone feeling trapped.

If someone is thinking about getting divorced, and they are considering getting in touch with your team, what’s the next step?

  • Prepare yourself to consider and prioritise – Divorce, finances in the long term and finances in the short term. 
  • Prepare yourself for the emotional journey and the conversations you will need to have with your partner and family. Where possible, surround yourself with a supportive network.
  • Timing is another crucial factor. When is the right time to act, to leave.  Sometimes this can be out of your control, but where possible, try to plan out ahead. Get advice early on, protect yourself.
  • Be prepared to provide an exclusive private email address to your solicitors to ensure your other half cannot assess your private communications with your solicitor. Sometimes that means setting up a new one.
  • Itemise and collate financial information in advance. 

What happens if one party suspects the other is not disclosing all their assets or blatantly lying?

This can be tricky.  If you are in the Court, setting these matters can be raised with the Court and reliefs sought such as specific Discovery Orders or Orders to compel an institution (eg a Bank) to provide information.  It can be useful to remind the other party that the case can be settled based on the information at hand; however, if more, new or additional information comes to light the case can be reopened.  If it can be proven that one party has deliberately misrepresented themselves, costs for additional proceedings can be sought.

How does a person understand what they “need” with regards to a financial settlement? Is there a process you go through to look at that?

Yes and that process can depend on which party you act for, with considerations to the length of the marriage, age & health of the parties, etc etc. 

The process will involve the solicitor addressing the long term financial needs for the parties, for example housing for a spouse and the children should be prioritised but then that partner who might take the house as part of their settlement needs to be confident they can maintain that property. 

Income needs (ie., maintenance, investment or pension income)  need to be carefully addressed to ensure a realistic, maintainable, financial security for families and personal long term wellbeing.

balancing the books to fund divorce

Another question we often hear is “how do I fund my divorce?”

Funding can be daunting  and it is important that people realise obtaining legal advice does not completely depend on their current income.  There are various methods available to fund a divorce; we issue monthly bills so the client can keep on top of costs.  The client may be eligible for funding from the Legal Services Commission however this is recouped upon settlement.  Additionally credit and loans are common from friends, family, commercial lenders or specialist litigation funding.

We all know that divorce is an emotional rollercoaster, do you have any tips for people who are considering separating from their spouse or partner?

  • Firstly, from a wellbeing perspective, if I could offer any advice it would be talking. Reach out and talk to your close friends, family members or work colleagues. Don’t bottle it up and try to deal with the whole mental burden yourself. You will not be the only one to ever go through something like this, remember there is always help at hand.
  • Next, look at your options. Talk to your Partner and see if there are ways you can work things out, if the relationship is beyond repair, try to talk through your options with one another. If this is not possible, physical separation can help give you both time and space, and protection when needed.
  • Thirdly, and most crucial in an abusive or threatening  scenario, is timing. When is the right time to act? If there are children involved in a threatened environment, straight away is always the answer. Their safety is paramount. If an adult is in an abusive relationship this applies to them too. Protect yourself. We offer discreet Legal Advice, Support, Protection and Police Assistance.

Have you ever had a divorce take an extraordinary amount of time?

Yes, one particular case springs to mind which was continually met with various hiccups; health concerns for one of the parties, purported hidden assets, dissipated assets, the other party changing solicitor 3 times etc., etc.,.  This became an entirely frustrating process for all concerned, met with many interlocutory (& often distracting)  proceedings that caused inordinate delay and considerable costs. Thankfully such cases are few and far between.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

We want to enable and empower people to reach out for help when they need it.

World Wellbeing Week raises awareness of the impact these life changes can have on our wellbeing and the wellbeing of our families. We hope to shine a light on how important it is to take care of ourselves and our close network of friends and family, especially during challengingtimes. We as a practice offer services and advice on many aspects of personal and family life. We are there for you, if you need advice and guidance for your future;

  • Divorce & Civil Partnerships
  • Domestic Violence
  • Children’s Law
  • Financial remedies
  • Financial Settlements & Separation
  • Planning for the Future
  • Pre-marriage – Cohabitation
  • Pre-Nuptial and Post-Nuptial Agreements

What do you enjoy most about your role as a family solicitor?

Helping families.

Thank you Lenore Rice of Wilson Nesbitt for telling us more about your role and how you help your clients. Contact Lenore HERE

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