Vivien Bell

Vivien is Partner and the Head of the Finance and Private Law Children Team in our Family Department.

She studied at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and completed her Legal Practice Course at the College of Law, Chester.

Vivien has always had an interest in Family Law and has specialised in this area since qualification in 2009. She holds Family Law Accreditation.

Vivien deals with cases involving family relationship breakdown and specialises in Divorce, Cohabitation and Separation issues, Financial matters and proceedings relating to Children (where the children are to live and who they spend time with). She has experience of drafting pre-nuptial, post nuptial agreements and cohabitation agreements.

Vivien also specialises in matters involving domestic violence, seeking non-molestation orders where necessary in an expeditious manner. She supports the Plymouth Domestic Abuse Service legal clinic.

Vivien is a member of Resolution. She aims to resolve matters in a constructive and non-confrontational manner. She is currently a committee member of Devon Resolution and was formerly Chair of Yres, Devon.

what clients say:

“I’m incredibly grateful for everything you’ve all done for us. You’ve taken huge weights off our chests at every stage of this process. I really appreciated the regular check-ins about costs as well, because I know how quickly legal fees can rack up, and I always felt like you were conscious of that rather than allowing things to unnecessarily spiral.

Everyone has been really responsive throughout.

Everything was explained clearly, and I genuinely felt like we were listened to throughout the whole process.

I’m also extremely grateful for how carefully the court arrangements were handled. Things like the visual barriers in court, leaving through different exits, and being able to wait and speak to people in a safe room rather than sitting in the lobby may sound like small practical things, but for me they were fundamental. I felt safe and protected throughout.

Should anyone I know ever have the misfortune of finding themselves in the position I was in when all of this began, I’ll know exactly where to send them.

Thank you again, genuinely.”

“WY and specifically Vivien Bell have journeyed intensely and closely with me through 4 out of 7 years of children act case with and for my 5 children.  I have never, ever had or experienced such attuned, thorough, attentive, robust, meticulous, astute and highly knowledgeable expert representation. Vivien genuinely cares about the case, the people and children involved,  its management, strategy, options and outcomes. Always striving and working extremely hard to achieve the best outcomes.“