Daniel Coombes

Daniel handles a wide variety of family law issues, with particular emphasis on resolving financial matters following divorce and applications concerning children. He has particular experience of high net worth and international finance cases and complicated children cases, including those involving children born into same-sex families, complex mental health issues and international relocation cases. Daniel is a trained mediator and collaborative family lawyer, as well as a determined litigator when required.

Daniel has acted for a wide range of clients including senior businessmen and women, bankers, lawyers and accountants, entrepreneurs, medical professionals, professional sportsmen and women, actors and those in the film industry, senior policemen and members of the military, and their spouses and partners. Many of Daniel’s clients are in the public eye and, as such, discretion and privacy are key concerns. 

Daniel has been recommended as a leading expert for family/matrimonial matters by the key directories, Chambers UK and Legal 500 UK, for many years.

Daniel is ranked as a Leading Individual by Legal 500 2024 with comments including: “Daniel Coombes is the most deep-thinking and strategic family law solicitor I know. He is exceptional and incredibly hard working.”  Other editions describe Daniel as a “meticulous lawyer with fantastic judgement” and an “extremely able and savvy litigator‘ who is strong on high-net-worth and international finance matters.

Chambers UK notes of Daniel: “he’s very pragmatic and focused on getting a result,” adding: “His attention to detail is second to none.” The 2021 edition comments: “He is brilliant on technical cases which require a high level of legal analysis“ and “He’s very good on international work.”

Daniel was named as one of the leading family lawyers by both Best Lawyers 2020 and 2023. He was ranked as a Recommended Family Lawyer by The Spear’s 500 Guide of leading family lawyers, 2023.

Daniel’s recent cases have included:

• Acting for the husband in a complicated divorce involving injunctions and financial and children proceedings spread over three continents.
• Acting for the mother in difficult and protracted children proceedings which required the involvement of a psychotherapist and a child and adolescent psychiatrist. Issues of parental alienation were raised.
• Acting for a German wife in financial proceedings against her French husband who was a banker in London with a significant income. The assets were based in England, France and Germany and included assets held under a usufruct.
• Acting for a father who lived abroad and wanted his children to move from England, where they were living with their mother, to live with him. Only one of the children wanted to move so the case involved separating siblings. The father argued successfully for this child to live with him.
• Acting for a business-owning wife in financial proceedings.  There was a pressing need for a speedy resolution and a settlement was reached quickly at a Private FDR.
• Acting for the husband who had mental health issues in a complex case in which the wife was a very high earner and the husband had been a ‘stay at home dad’.
• Acting for an American wife in her divorce from her European husband who worked in the financial sector in London. The case required specific US pension and tax advice. A settlement was successfully negotiated in a series of round table meetings.
• Acting for a father in difficult proceedings in which the mother sought an order relaxing the restrictions placed on her spending time with her child. The application was opposed by the father on the grounds that there were risks of abduction and manipulation of the child. The case required the input of multiple psychiatrists and experts, and the consideration of foreign judgments in related previous proceedings. The court found in the father’s favour.
• Acting for the mother of an autistic child and successfully varying an existing equal-care regime and obtaining the court’s permission for the child to receive the therapies required.
• Acting for clients in contested jurisdiction proceedings, including, for example, for the wife of a multi-millionaire living in Monaco. The husband wanted the divorce and financial proceedings to be dealt with in Monaco. Daniel successfully argued for the divorce to be dealt with in England and a financial settlement favourable to Daniel’s client was achieved here.
• Securing emergency protective orders for a wife following incidents of domestic abuse. Subsequently representing her in a fact-finding hearing and securing findings of fact against her husband, and then representing her in complicated contested proceedings relating to their child securing the outcome that she wanted.
• Acting for former husbands and wives in applications to vary existing maintenance obligations.

Daniel’s reported cases include:

• L v L&H where Daniel acted for the husband in his successful action against his wife and solicitors. The case involved obtaining an emergency injunction seeking the return of our client’s laptop after it was taken by his wife. The case was ground-breaking and ultimately led to a change in the law.
• Acting as London agent on the important case of Re G (Children), involving children of a same sex relationship. Daniel successfully applied to the House of Lords to overturn a previous court decision which ordered that the children should no longer live with their biological mother.