New family law solicitor at Howes Percival

Howes Percival has appointed Hannah Butcher as a Solicitor in its Leicester Family Law team.

The appointment follows the completion of Butcher’s training contract with the firm.

Justine Flack, head of the Family Law team in Leicester, said: “I am absolutely delighted to welcome Hannah to the team. While the nature of the work constantly changes, the case load for the Family Law team in Leicester continues to grow. Helping high net worth individuals in divorce proceedings with complex assets is still the core of our work. Although the long term trend for divorce figures nationally is downwards, we’ve seen notable exceptions such as the rise of the so-called ‘silver splitters’ – older couples divorcing – again, often with complex asset arrangements.

“In addition, we’ve seen a marked increase in case load in two other areas – cohabiting couples and family businesses. Couples who live together have very few rights in law, so in addition to cohabitation disputes, we are seeing a growing number of cases where couples are looking to protect themselves and their assets through cohabitation agreements. Equally, we are seeing an increase in pre-nups being considered and drafted for family business owners who recognise that marriage changes the protection of assets.”