Divorce & family breakdown are often accompanied by mental health problems. Nicola Beasley explains how family lawyers can work with clients who lack or lose capacity
- Explains the concept of litigation capacity, and how family lawyers can identify if clients have capacity.
- Differentiates between litigation capacity and decision-making.
- Sets out practice points for cases in which clients lose, or do not have, litigation capacity.
It is not uncommon for family law practitioners to come up against obstacles in their cases, from complex financial negotiations, to hidden assets, to allegations from one party to the other. Divorce and family breakdown are rarely smooth. Unsurprisingly, considering the context of what clients are going through, some have mental health problems. Clients are often facing one of the most challenging times of their lives, as everything they have known collapses around them.
In some cases, practitioners may have clients who lack or lose litigation capacity, whether this is temporary or permanent. In some cases, loss of litigation capacity can be caused by mental health issues.
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