Family Law

Family matters are handled by Fethi Günalp, who leads this part of the practice. They are conducted privately, at a pace the client can manage, and with a clear separation between what the law can deliver and what it cannot.

Divorce and separation

We act in divorce proceedings before the Family Court, whether the marriage was contracted in Northern Cyprus or abroad. Where one or both spouses are foreign nationals, or the marriage has connections to more than one country, the first questions are which court has jurisdiction and which law applies — and those answers can materially change the financial outcome. They are worth settling before proceedings are issued anywhere.

Financial arrangements

Dividing assets on the breakdown of a marriage is usually the part that takes longest, particularly where there is property, a business, or assets in more than one country. We advise on what falls to be divided, how it is valued, and what a realistic settlement looks like, and we draft the agreement that records it. Where a settlement can be negotiated, it is almost always faster, cheaper and less damaging than the litigated alternative.

Children

Custody, residence and contact arrangements are decided by reference to the welfare of the child. We advise parents on how those decisions are approached here, help construct arrangements that will actually work in practice, and act where an agreement cannot be reached. Where a child has connections to another country — including proposals to relocate, or a child retained abroad after a visit — the matter needs specialist attention immediately rather than after the position has hardened.

International family matters

A significant share of this work involves families split across borders: a foreign spouse resident here, a marriage celebrated elsewhere, assets in two or three countries, or a divorce already under way abroad that affects property in Northern Cyprus. We deal with the TRNC aspects and coordinate with the client's lawyers in the other jurisdictions rather than duplicating their advice.

Agreements before and during marriage

We draft prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and cohabitation agreements for couples who are not married but who own property together. The weight the court gives such an agreement depends on how it was made — whether both parties had independent advice, whether disclosure was full, and whether there was time to consider it. An agreement signed in a hurry without advice is worth much less than one prepared properly.

How we handle these matters

Discreetly. Correspondence goes where you tell us to send it. We will tell you at the start what the realistic range of outcomes is and what each route costs, and we will not encourage proceedings that serve no purpose beyond escalating a conflict.