Family lawyers in Scotland

Get expert advice on Scottish family law issues from our experienced team

Our leading team of family lawyers in Scotland are recognised by the Legal Directories as experts in Scottish family law, serving clients across Scotland, including in Glasgow, Edinburgh, the Highlands and Islands and on an international basis.

Scotland has a different set of legislative acts governing family law cases from England and Wales, both in respect of divorce, cohabitation claims and children's cases. The court system is also different in Scotland from that in England & Wales and is governed by different procedures and rules.

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Accredited by Chambers and Partners, Spear's 500 and the Legal 500

Accolades

The team provides an exceptional service of early, clear and realistic advice, very high attention to detail, considered and careful analysis of all realistic angles, and options to ensure that every step is taken at the appropriate time to ensure that the client's interests are best promoted and secured.
Legal 500 2026
The team offers a professional service. All of the members of the team I have dealt with have been knowledgeable and committed to getting the best result for the client.
Legal 500 2026
The care taken by the team is remarkable and reassuring for clients.
Legal 500 2026
An efficient team performing at a high level.
Legal 500 2026
A wonderful team who offer pragmatic advice whilst robustly defending the interests of their clients.
Legal 500 2026
Weightmans family law department is very dynamic. Being part of a larger firm means that they are able to draw on the expertise of other departments in the firm, which can be extremely helpful.
Legal 500 2025
Highly specialised family law team with a breadth of experience.
Legal 500 2025
The team at Weightmans is well known and respected in the family law market... They approach complex family law matters in a straightforward manner that is focused on resolution for their clients.
Legal 500 2025
The team is made up of extremely capable individuals dealing with complex and high-net-worth work. They are all technically very sound and work in a collaborative way with other lawyers.
Legal 500 2025
Weightmans have expanded hugely their family law capacity which is testament to their aspirations within this space... Experience, reputation and depth all add to the overall approach.
Legal 500 2025
The family team are totally focused on assisting clients to identify their immediate needs as well as helping them to gain clarity around the future. They take a family focused view and work on the assumption that court action should be avoided if at all possible by working collaboratively with other solicitors.
Legal 500 2025
The team provided fantastic communication and sound advice throughout the process. All possible outcomes and costs were set out at the beginning - they couldn’t have been more helpful.
Chambers 2025
The team showed total professional attention to detail and gave me inspiration to continue even when things seemed unsurmountable.
Chambers 2025
They couldn’t be more efficient and nothing is ever too much trouble for them.
Chambers 2025
Clients get what they pay for at Weightmans in that the preparation is meticulous. They are so good at looking after the client and making sure that everything is where it needs to be.
Chambers 2025
The lawyers are very experienced with knowledge encompassing a broad range of family law issues. They are adept at dealing with cross-border disputes and I would rate them as very strong in this area.
Chambers 2025
Weightmans is very up to speed in the latest legal trends and has good connections with the legal profession.
Chambers 2025
Weightmans has technically competent lawyers with a focus on solutions and the team is very pleasant to deal with, which benefits their clients.
Chambers 2025
Weightmans is efficient, experienced and professional. The team has an excellent range of experiences and ability, and they provide immediate responses.
Chambers 2025

Our Scottish family law services

We can provide specialised advice in relation to any specific Scottish family law matters and assist in any cross border family cases which involve Scotland or which span both Scotland and England & Wales.

Our top family lawyers have the in-depth expertise to guide you through issues including:

Divorce and civil partnership dissolution (Divorce (Scotland) Act 1976 (as amended by the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 and Civil Partnership Act 2004))
International divorce and dissolution
High Net Worth relationship breakdown
Financial Disputes on relationship breakdown (Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985)
Child aliment or maintenance including school fees
Separation agreements
Cohabitation (Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006)
Inheritance disputes
Cross border disputes including intra UK disputes
Wealth protection strategy including prenuptial agreements, postnuptial agreements and cohabitation agreements
Child care arrangements — contact and residence disputes (Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and the Children (Scotland) Act 2020)
Parental rights and responsibilities
Child relocation and abduction including Hague Convention actions.
Grandparent and Step Parent disputes — residence orders for kinship carers
Creating families including by way of adoption, permanence orders, parenthood and surrogacy (Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007)
Children’s hearings/ panels and children’s referral proceedings (Children’s Hearing (Scotland) Act 2011)
LGBTQ+ family law
Arbitration and non-court based options including collaboration
Enforcement of decrees, agreements and child maintenance
Immigration advice for businesses and high net worth individuals.

Aliment

The name of financial support from one person to another, more commonly referred to as maintenance. An obligation of aliment is due by a spouse to the other spouse, and a parent to a child. Where the obligation is between spouses, the obligation will only last until any divorce has been granted.

Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV)

The value of a party’s pension that is taken into account when valuing the pool of matrimonial property.

Cohabitant

A couple, whether of the same or opposite sex, who live together as if they were spouses or civil partners will be cohabitants.

Contact Order

An order specifying the period of time that a child will spend with the non-residential parent. Contact can be time spent during the daytime only (non-residential contact) or time spent both during the day and overnight (residential contact).

Extra-Judicial Settlements

An agreement reached between parties about how to resolve matters without a decision being made by the Court.

Matrimonial Home

Any house or property which has been provided by or has been made available by one or both of the parties for the family to live in together.

Matrimonial Property

Anything that is owned by either the individual spouse or by the couple jointly, when they separate, that was acquired by them between the date of marriage and the date of separation. If the item in question is a heritable property (i.e. a house) then this will also be matrimonial property if it was purchased prior to the marriage for use by the couple as a family home. It is the same position for furniture and plenishings of that property.

Minute of Agreement

A contract entered into by the parties setting out the terms of the agreement that they have reached and that they will be bound by. It is usually registered in the Books of Council and Session and can be enforced against the other party in the event that they fail to comply with the terms thereof. Also known as a Separation Agreement or a Cohabitation Agreement.

Orders for Financial Provision

The orders that a party can seek from the Court to divide the matrimonial property on divorce. Orders can include:

■ An order for payment of a capital sum

■ An order for a transfer of property

■ An order for payment of periodical allowance

■ A pension sharing order

Any such orders can only be made by the Court if it is justified by the principles set down in s9 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985.

Ordinary Divorce

An application for Divorce that can be made where there remain financial matters to be resolved. If all financial matters have been resolved, but there remain children of the marriage under the age of 16 years old, then an Ordinary Divorce action must be raised.

Pension Share

A pension share is where one parties’ pension rights are transferred to the other party. Whether the new pension requires to remain within the same pension scheme or not will be determined by the pension scheme from where the pension share is coming from. Many pension schemes will charge for a pension share to be undertaken and not all pensions can be shared. It is important that independent legal and financial advice is taken before a pension share is entered into.

Periodical Allowance

An order for one party to make a regular payment of income to the other party after divorce. Such orders will only be made if they are justified and the court cannot dispose of the action in any other way which would create a clean break between the parties. Periodical allowance is generally awarded for a short period of time (usually no more than three years) or until the happening of a specified event.

Relevant Date

The date on which the parties separated and therefore the date on which the matrimonial property will be valued.

Residence Order

An order specifying where a child will have their main place of residence and with which parent.

Shared Care Arrangement

An order specifying the times and days that a child will spend with each parent on an equal (50/50) basis.

Simplified Divorce

An application for divorce that can be made when the financial matters have been dealt with and neither party has any further financial claims against the other party, AND there are no children under the age of 16 years. A simplified divorce involves a form being completed and signed in the presence of a Notary Public and lodged with the Court. The Court will then serve the application on the other party and if it is not opposed the Court will grant Decree of Divorce.