Same sex families

Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like everyone else under the law...

Barack Obama, January 2013
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Penningtons Manches Cooper's highly ranked family law team has an outstanding reputation for advising same sex families, both in relation to financial issues and children. We provide an individual and discreet service designed to promote agreement and to maintain the privacy of the family.

Our specialists can advise same sex families on all aspects of family law and we have particular expertise in advising international families who are seeking to relocate to or from the UK. We can assist with the recognition of foreign same sex relationships in the UK and with the registration of civil partnerships abroad. We work frequently with lawyers from other countries and are able to provide advice to families seeking to dissolve or annul foreign same sex relationships.

The team, which is based in London, Oxford, Reading and Guildford, has vast experience of drafting cohabitation agreements and civil partnership agreements, including agreements that are designed to be enforceable in multiple jurisdictions.

We advise both biological and non-biological parents in relation to parental responsibility, residence and contact, in the context of same sex families. We also advise prospective parents considering donor insemination, surrogacy and adoption and can draft agreements to regulate such arrangements.

Every family is different and our strength lies in our ability to bring our vast range of experience to bear to provide individual solutions, tailored to each family’s particular needs.

We offer an online system that can help our clients to understand their legal position, prepare for their first meeting, and provide us with the information required to maximise the value we can deliver. We invite you to get started online.

We offer expert advice on:

Recent work highlights

Mother and child relocation

Successfully acting for a lesbian mother in relation to an application to relocate with her child to her country of origin which was opposed by the biological father.


Nullity proceedings

Acting for a prominent individual in nullity and financial proceedings, where the fact of his homosexuality helped establish that the marriage had no substance, thereby reducing the wife’s financial entitlement.


Same sex marital agreement

Drawing up a detailed international marital agreement for a client who had arranged to undergo a same sex marriage in the Netherlands.

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Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP

Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC311575 and is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under number 419867.

Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP