Vardags Italy desk

Together, the Vardags team are uniquely placed to assist their Italian clients in all UHNW and high-profile matters, including cross-jurisdictional disputes. Our Italian Desk also work in close partnership with banks, family offices, tax advisors and wealth managers based in Italy, to ensure that we provide a holistic, multi-disciplinary service to our clients. 

If you are in an international relationship, the jurisdiction which the divorce proceeds could make a huge difference to the final outcome. London, as the divorce capital of the world, is known for making generous awards to the financially weaker parties, and the court has a wide discretion in what it awards. The court will look at the needs of the parties and will look to share the assets built up during the course of the marriage. The court also has wide ranging powers to look at assets held through companies and family trusts.

Where you are entitled to divorce rests on a mixture of European and national law, but is generally determined in relation to where each party is habitually resident or domiciled. If the dispute is between two European countries, the person who petitions first may be determinative. It is therefore vital to take legal advice promptly. Very often, a British person living abroad is able to access the English justice system, without necessarily being in the country at the time.

If one party wants to move to another country with the children, this can also lead to proceedings as the permission of the other parent, or the court, is required. If you are caught in this situation, then you may need to seek legal advice. Family law issues are often sensitive and can be difficult to address with your lawyer. At Vardags, we understand the need to express yourself freely and that it is often easier to discuss your private matters in your mother tongue. 

Vardags’ services extend well beyond divorce and family law, and encompasses reputation and privacy, property, corporate, criminal defence, commercial and civil litigation, employment, and professional negligence.

Vardags in the Italian press

Vardags frequently feature in the Italian press. Founder and President, Ayesha Vardag,  has been profiled by La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera and Il Sore 24 Ore. Recently, in an article discussing pre-nuptial agreements, Ayesha spoke alongside Valeria de Vellis, one of Italy’s most prominent matrimonial lawyers who acted on the Silvio Berlusconi divorce.

• La Repubblica | Divorzio all’inglese (“English Divorce”)
• La Repubblica | Ayesha Vardag, la diva del divorzio (“Ayesha Vardag, the Diva of Divorce”)
• La Repubblica | Accordo prematrimoniale: cos’è e a cosa serve (“Prenuptial agreement: what it is and what it is for”)
• La Repubblica | L’amore al tempo della pandemia provoca un boom di divorzi a Londra  (“Pandemic causes a divorce boom in London”)
• Il Sole 24 Ore | Violenza sulle done, cosa possiamo imparare dalla Gran Bretagna (“Violence against women, what we can learn from Britain”)
• Corriere della Sera | Divorzio negato (“Divorce denied”)