Helen Cankett

Partner & Family Mediator

As a Family Law specialist, I help clients through all aspects of relationship breakdown, from negotiating financial settlements to agreeing arrangements for their children. I also help clients, including high net worth individuals, to protect their wealth for future generations with Pre- or Post-Nuptial Agreements and Living Together (Cohabitation) Agreements. 

I regularly act for business owners and recognise the need to preserve that business for future generations.  Working alongside the Commercial and Corporate teams at BPE, we look at ways of restructuring businesses to meet the other spouse’s claims and avoid the business having to be sold.  For those starting a new relationship, I also look at flexible ways of using Pre or Post-Nuptial Agreements and Declaration of Trusts to enable my clients to plan for future generations, particularly if the aim is to preserve assets acquired pre-marriage, to protect likely inheritances or to ensure that their estate passes to their own children in due course.

As a trained Family Mediator and Collaborative Lawyer, I am passionate about using alternatives to the Court process wherever possible. I work in partnership with the client or the couple to achieve their preferred outcome in a calm and constructive manner so they can move forward with their life after their separation or divorce, with certainty and structure for the future. The Court is not always the best place to air differences and I can help people to talk about their differences in a supported way so they can arrive at their own solutions, which are invariably more flexible and successful than a Court would order.

Helen was appointed as a Deputy District Judge in October 2022 and sits on the Western Circuit in both the Civil and Family jurisdictions.

Helen is ranked in Band 1 in the Chambers and Partners 2023 rankings.