Hope for the best but prepare for the wurst!

I’ve probably used that heading before, and certainly it’s a phrase I say on a regular basis.

It was the mantra of my very first training partner, who I both adored and was terrified of!  He is now dearly departed, but nothing to do with me I hasten to add.

You might find the idea of me being afraid of anyone is quite comic, but things have changed a lot since then.

Such as technology!

We are now much more heavily dependent on computers and phones than we were when I was a trainee.  When I was sent off to court, I had a “trial box” which included everything I might need for a day on the bench, such pens, paper (but not quill and ink), sweets (to help you through the dull bits – that still hasn’t changed!) and a roll of 10p pieces for the pay phones!

Now the box would include spare cables for various different devices!

Some things, however, remain boringly predictable.

Court proceedings still take a long time.

Litigation is still both expensive and uncertain- my ability to predict what will happen is no more or less accurate than it was in the days before laptops and mobile phones.

Opponents (and occasionally my clients) will never cease to amaze me.  I still have people telling me that it’s reasonable for them to refuse to let their ex see the children because the children in question have said they don’t want to see their absent parent.  This is despite the fact that those same children are usually under 10 and don’t get much of a say in many aspects of their lives!  Also, (in my experience) children very rarely genuinely don’t want to see the absent parent and Judges know that!

Nevertheless, some things do change.

The law changes – sometimes mid case.   So the advice I might be giving you today on, for example, what your ex-partners’ rights are over your house (practically none if you weren’t married and they didn’t own the property with you or make any significant contributions towards the mortgage) might change significantly if the government brings in plans to reform cohabitation law.

Financial provisions change – you may have gone into business with someone who was financially sound, but changes in business practices, tax laws and their industry may mean that they are no longer good for the money.

Your circumstances might change.    Your terms of business might have been completely fit for purpose when you set up your business, but your business practices may have changed, and if what you do doesn’t match what you’ve said, then your actions really will speak louder than your words.

Which means that the need to hope for the best and prepare for the worst doesn’t end at the beginning – it’s an ongoing process.

So, whilst I can’t predict what the future holds, I can help you work out what kinds of things you should be looking out for, what checks you should be doing, how to protect yourself against the unknown (as far as it’s possible to do so) and what a good strategy might look like.

If you want to know more, I bet you can predict where to find me.

Kleyman & Co Solicitors.  The full service law firm.  Using past experience to prepare for future problems.