About

I'm John Bolch.

I studied law at Reading University and The College of Law, Chester. I was admitted as a solicitor on April Fool's Day 1985, which has always seemed somehow appropriate.

For the next twenty-four years I worked almost exclusively in family law, dealing primarily with divorce, financial remedies (financial/property settlements on divorce), private law children matters and cohabitee disputes. I was also a member of Resolution and of the Law Society's Family Law Panel.

I started writing Family Law News, formerly Family Lore, in January 2006, which I believe makes it the first family law blog in this country.

I gave up practising in 2009 and now work freelance as a writer on family law matters.

In August 2009 my book Do Your Own Divorce, a guide for litigants in person, was published. (Please note that the book should no longer be relied upon, as much has since changed in relation to the law and procedure on divorce.)

I also run the @familylaw Family Law News feed on Twitter, which currently has some 15,000 followers

Unsurprisingly, you can contact me by completing the Contact Me form in the sidebar on the left (if the sidebar is not visible click/tap the ≡ symbol to the left of/above the blog title at the top of the page).

Please note, however, that I am not able to give advice (I no longer hold a practising certificate), and any request for advice will not therefore normally receive a reply. If you want advice, you can find a specialist family lawyer here. If you can't afford a lawyer, you may be able to find help here.

I can provide family law content for your blog or website - for more information, see here.

If you would like to advertise on Family Law News, see my advertising policy.