Sophia Leeder

Sophia advises on all areas of family law, including separation agreements, divorce, financial issues following separation and divorce, child contact and residence (or 'custody') issues and pre and post nuptial agreements. She also advises couples who are not married or in a Civil Partnership on issues arising on relationship breakdown, such as disputes over property, child contact and residence and financial claims for the maintenance of children under Schedule 1 of the Children Act. Sophia has particular experience with ToLATA disputes concerning property ownership claims brought by an unmarried individual against their former partner.

Sophia acts for and against individuals across a broad range of industries and backgrounds – including hedge fund founders, entrepreneurs and those with family wealth arising from landed estates. She acts for individuals located in the UK and overseas, with many clients based in Europe, the U.S. and the Middle East. She has a strong interest in dealing with applications to the English Court for financial settlement following an overseas divorce. Sophia also has in-depth knowledge of the issues facing companies and trustees involved in financial proceedings upon a divorce and has a wealth of experience in advising such third parties.

Sophia is admitted to practise in England and Wales.

• Acted for a highly successful ‘ultra-high net worth’ businessman in his divorce. The assets included a major business, properties in various countries, art and a range of complex investments
• Advised a member of an UHNW family on a pre-nuptial agreement designed to deal with the financial consequences of divorce in a manner that was consistent with the family’s overall planning and approach
• Advised an UHNW individual in relation to her divorce, which required the complex unravelling of various overseas trusts in order to enable the release of funds
• Advised an individual in relation to various issues which arose over a number of years concerning the ongoing arrangements for her child following the breakdown of the parental relationship