Divorce and family law solicitors for sports professionals

Discreet, personal advice for sportspeople and their partners

Clarke Willmott offers discreet, personalised divorce and family legal services to sports professionals. We have many years’ experience helping high profile sports people navigate challenging times and appreciate how much more sensitive legal matters can be for you.

No more so than when you have difficulties in your personal relationships. Your reputation can make or break your future playing career and the prying eyes of the media are never far away. We will always respect your privacy and do all we can to curb unwarranted media intrusion.

Taking into account your profile, commitments and lifestyle, we will guide you through the best options for your situation and give you the sensitive, incisive and expert legal support you need to make decide how you’d like to proceed.

How Clarke Willmott can help

When family-related legal issues arise for professional and high-profile sports personalities, we know it’s vital to resolve them as quickly, painlessly and sensitively as possible. Here are some of the ways our solicitors can help you:

Prenuptial agreements

While it’s impossible to predict how much you might earn over your career, it makes sense to be prepared. If you are planning to get married, we would recommend you consider setting up a prenuptial agreement with your partner before the wedding. Your prenup will set out how your assets will be divided if the marriage were to end in divorce.

If you’re already married, you could enter into postnuptial agreement to achieve the same ends.

Divorce

Divorce and separation can be particularly complicated for sports professionals, especially if your career has spanned different countries. As experts in the complexities of international divorce, we can suggest the best way forward for you and your children and advise on whether it is possible to raise divorce proceedings in a country whose laws may be more favourable.

Complex financial settlements

Earnings for sports professionals can be very high and remuneration arrangements can be complicated; often made up of complex business and income structures such as a salary, bonuses, sponsorships, signing and transfer fees. You could also have international assets and interests to add into the mix.

Anything acquired during the marriage could potentially be shared between both you and your spouse. We can work with financial advisers and accountants to build a clear and accurate picture of your overall financial position to ensure a fair financial settlement is reached.

As a multi-disciplinary firm, we also have the benefit of being able to call on our colleagues to work with us on any commercial matters, property disputes or intellectual property issues that may arise.

Arrangements for children

In any relationship breakdown involving children, their needs must be come first. We can advise you on making child maintenance and living arrangements in their best interests.

Many divorces involving sports professionals have an international element. For example, if either or you are foreign nationals, have dual citizenship, reside overseas, or have international interests. This can complicate arrangements for your children. We have the experience and knowledge to deal successfully with these issues, including relocating overseas with your children after a divorce.

If you have children together but are not married, we can advise you on separating as a cohabiting couple and arranging childcare and financial support.

Family dispute resolution

Where possible, we recommend using mediation to try and resolve your differences and minimise conflict for your children. Cross-border family disputes can be particularly fractious, and this collaborative approach can be a practical way to resolve matters calmly and prevent more serious negative outcomes such as child abduction.

Discretion and confidentiality

If there is press interest around you and your family, we can advise you around press rights and confidentiality issues, as well as taking an alternative course of action, if appropriate to your situation, such as a private hearing.

Contact a divorce and family solicitor

Our team of dedicated and experienced divorce and family lawyers will guide you through your issue with care and sensitivity. Call 0800 652 8025 or contact us online to arrange a consultation. We have solicitors based across the country in Manchester, London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Southampton and Taunton.

You can also draw on our extensive sports-related legal expertise beyond family matters including contractual disputes and sports injury compensation.