Whether you want to safeguard your assets before or after marriage, cohabit with your partner, or preserve your family business and trusts, we can help you achieve your goals.
At Hassan Luk LPP, our family and children teams understand that when a relationship breaks down, there are many complex issues to be resolved. These include sorting out your finances and working towards an arrangement for your children.
Our advice is family-centred and draws on years of experience. We offer practical solutions that aim to minimise distress to family members and children. We will give you clear and responsive advice in emergency situations.
Divorce settlements can be complicated and the process can be very overwhelming. We simplify the legal talk, cut through jargon, and offer clear insights into your options. Whether you are married or unmarried, we are here to help you with any issues that may arise from divorce and separation:
Divorce and civil partnership disolution
We’ll guide you through the legal process, while protecting your interests to achieve a fair financial settlement.
Separation
If you’re separated but aren’t ready or don’t want to divorce, we can help draft a separation agreement.
Family mediation services
The breakdown of a relationship can be difficult and this can make it seem hard to reach agreement on decisions such as division of finances and child arrangements. We never lose sight of the fact that we need to listen to and work with you to find the best way forward. Our experienced family mediation lawyers can help you resolve family disputes sensitively and cost-effectively in a supported environment.
Counselling
Offering exceptional legal expertise is only one part of our role. Our expert counsellor can help you with practical, affordable, and professional emotional support.
The law does not currently allow unmarried partners on separation to make financial claims in the same way as a married partner can. The only rights which cohabitants have relate to ownership of property (decided with reference to property and trust law) and financial claims on behalf of any children of the family (including maintenance claims).
The impact of separation on the ownership of property and other assets is a complex area of law. Separating can make many couples uncertain of their rights and potential interests in property. Both financial and non-financial contributions to a relationship and a property can be relevant.
Amidst the emotions of a relationship breakdown, it is vital that you have a clear understanding of the law and the options available to you.
Living together
If you’re unmarried and living together or planning to do so, we can draft a cohabitation agreement to protect you if your relationship breaks down.
Prenuptual agreements
If you’re planning to get married but want to agree beforehand how your property and financial assets would be split if you were to divorce.
Our experienced prenuptial agreement lawyers specialise in guiding clients through these processes, providing clarity and peace of mind.
New relationships
We can help you protect your children’s inheritance.
Disputes involving children can be difficult and stressful. Central to every dispute is the child themselves.
Our children law practitioners have extensive experience in resolving these issues sensitively and constructively. In every case, we can help you to reach a solution that's in the best interests of your child.
Child support
Our child support lawyers advise on applications for child maintenance and assist in negotiations to reach child maintenance agreements on divorce/dissolution or separation.
Every family is different and we will focus on the factors which are unique to your circumstances (such as who the child lives with, nights spent with the other parent) and try to achieve an agreement that works for everybody.
Child arrangements
Our children lawyers will help you establish clear arrangements regarding where your children will live and how much time they will spend with each parent. Whether through negotiation, mediation, or court proceedings, our priority is the best interests of your children. Constructive advice from a child law expert at an early stage can be invaluable, particularly if matters are complex and involve allegations of abuse or violence.
Family disputes
Family disputes can arise at any stage. Our child law lawyers provide expert advice and representation, helping you navigate issues and ensure the best interests of your children are prioritised.
International and expertraite families
Children disputes involving parties from different countries, whether nationals or expatriates, and whether living in Kenya or elsewhere, can have added complexity and need specialist advice. Our child law lawyers can help with international family law disputes.
Moving abroad and relocating
If you're thinking of making a move to live abroad with a child (sometimes called 'leave to remove' cases) or are concerned that your ex-partner is considering doing so, early advice is recommended.
Co-parenting
A co-parenting agreement can be of value to anyone who has decided to start a family but can be especially useful for those planning to create a family from a non-traditional route such as fertility treatment. We can advise on the legal status of co-parents and who will have (or may acquire) parental responsibility for any child, as well as the legal applications that may need to be made.
Step parents
The position for step parents is different from that of parents, grandparents or adoptive parents. Different rules apply to the manner in which they can acquire parental responsibility and other orders affecting the child such as child arrangement orders. Our child arrangement lawyers can help step parents with these issues.
Non-return of children and child abduction parents
Often parents are unaware that they can be accused of committing child abduction of their own children. Our child abduction lawyers can advise you if you are worried about the risk of abduction, the non-return of your children or if you are worried that you may be accused of child abduction.
We’ll help you negotiate the legal process of securing legal parenthood, as well as other legal issues around adoption and surrogacy.
We can help with the legal implications of having a child using a surrogate and take you through the steps required to enable you to acquire full parental rights for your child. We advise clients who have chosen to have a child using a surrogate, either here or abroad. Our clients come from diverse backgrounds and cultures. As experienced family lawyers, we know the law and the process inside out.
Our team is highly experienced in dealing with matters of harassment and domestic abuse which arise in the context of a family dispute. We have the necessary expertise and support from our colleagues in other teams to advise and assist those suffering from domestic abuse and harassment and those who are accused of abusive or harassing behaviour.
Combating domestic abuse and harassment does not necessarily mean contacting the police, a prosecution and criminal convictions. There are a number of remedies available in the civil and family courts which can afford protection to you without resorting to criminal proceedings.
Domestic abuse concerns itself not only with your immediate spouse or partner, but also wider members of your family and household. If you are suffering abuse or harassment from someone who is not your partner or spouse, there are remedies available.
Our expert family and children lawyers can advise you on all forms of relationship breakdown including pre-nuptial agreements; family-building and arrangements for children; financing your relationship and bringing your relationship to an end in the most constructive and affirmative manner. Many of the team are trained collaboratively or offer mediation and we offer the option of acting for both you and your partner together. We can also represent you in court litigation where required.
It may be that you will also need advice on financial support for your children. This is particularly the case if you were not married as financial provision for your children will not be dealt with as part of the divorce. Our team has a longstanding reputation in advising parents in these circumstances.
We can help you sort out arrangements for your children when a relationship breaks down. We can help reach a resolution where one parent is seeking to relocate with children, either overseas or within Kenya, and we regularly represent parents involved in child abduction proceedings. In addition we have expert knowledge to advise on the legal aspects of creating families by means of assisted reproduction, surrogacy and adoption.
Our family lawyers at Hassan Luk can help you and your family move forward, ensuring a smooth transition. Our team is best known for our constructive approach and bespoke service. We are family-focused and solution-driven.
A divorce typically involves three written applications being submitted to the Court. Generally speaking, you will not be required to attend Court for any hearing in connection with a divorce or any allegations that you make. If the person seeking a divorce asks a Judge for a Court Order, asking the person responding to the divorce to pay the legal costs, and this is disputed, you may be asked to attend Court.
The legal process of divorce ends your contract of marriage. The divorce process does not resolve all issues relating to property, money and children upon separation – whilst connected, these issues involve separate legal procedures.
If you want to divorce, it is unlikely you will need to attend Court. If you have disagreements involving your finances or children and separate legal proceedings have started, then you may have to attend Court hearings to resolve these issues.
There are three key stages in the divorce process:
There is no easy answer to this. The Court will consider a checklist of criteria which includes your respective incomes, earning and borrowing capacity, housing needs, number of children and the value of assets. First consideration goes to providing any children of the family with a home.
Whilst the business is likely to be a matrimonial asset, it may be the case that you cannot easily sell your business, or shares in it, or if you do you will lose your income. Your wife may be compensated for any interest she has in the business from other assets.
You can obtain an emergency Court order to prevent your wife from relocating abroad until the Court makes a final decision about whether or not she can leave with your children. The Court will consider many factors which will include your existing relationship with your children and how this is likely to be affected if they move, as well as practical arrangements that your wife has put in place abroad relating to housing and schooling.
It is always sensible to get some legal advice even if you decide not to use a lawyer. Most lawyers will offer an initial telephone appointment or meeting free of charge.
A lawyer will set out your options and your position in law. This knowledge and information can then form the basis either for further discussions with your ex-partner/spouse or mediation or negotiation through lawyers. Most lawyers will offer a free initial appointment without charge and many people make appointments on this basis to find out information before they decide the best way forward.
Mediation has been established for many years as an alternative process to the Court as an effective way of resolving disputes about children or financial issues. Before an application to the Court is made about a child or financial issue, the Protocol directs that a case should first be assessed by a mediator. This assessment is called a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM). You cannot be compelled to mediate. Mediation is a voluntary process and both you and your ex-partner/spouse must agree to mediate.
You will meet or speak with one of our lawyers initially for a free appointment. Many of our clients have been specifically recommended to one of our lawyers and if this is the case, you will of course deal with that lawyer. You will have one lawyer deal with your case and we will confirm this in writing to you, with the exception that another lawyer may cover your case in the event of sickness or holiday. The Family and Children Law team work with a paralegal who may work on your case from time to time.
If you would like to book in a no-obligation, confidential call or meeting, please fill out our contact form at the bottom of this page. A member of our team will be in touch as soon as possible.
We have seven offices across Kenya in Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret and Nakuru.
Strategic legal counsel across East Africa, delivering practical solutions for businesses, families and institutions.