As well as being a partner and head of our highly successful family team, Helen is one of the most sought after divorce lawyers in the region.  Advising on all aspects of divorce and separation, she specialises in complex and high value financial settlements, often involving family businesses and assets held abroad.

Helen is a consummate professional, bringing clarity and efficiency to every case. She is also strongly recommended for her understanding and supportive approach and her ability to help clients move forward.

Helen was named a ‘Leading Individual’ in the Legal 500 2023 rankings, the leading independent guide to the best lawyers in the UK.

Helen is recognised as a ‘notable practitioner’ by Chambers and Partners and is a specialist collaborative lawyer.

Expertise

Helen provides legal advice on high net worth and complex financial cases and representation in divorce proceedings. She also advises on pre and post nuptial agreements, living together agreements and issues involving children of separating couples.

Helen has a particular focus on run-offs, bankers bonuses and capitalising maintenance.

Helen studied at law at Nottingham University and qualified in 1989. She spent her earlier working years in London both in private practice and local government before joining Ottaways (now Debenhams Ottaway) in 2000. Helen became a partner in 2004.

In Touch

Helen is a member of the:

  • advanced tier of the specialist Law Society Family Panel
  • Hertfordshire Resolution and of the Hertfordshire Collaborative group (committee member)

Helen has recently been  shortlisted for inclusion in the ‘Regional Lawyers’ section of the 2019 edition of the Spears 500 as one of the top private wealth lawyers based outside of London.

  • Helen Young has to be one of the hardest working solicitors I have ever encountered. She has a no-nonsense approach to cases and has seemingly-effortless good judgment. Her clients soon come to trust her implicitly, and rightly so, she always fights hard for her clients whilst giving realistic advice that allows them to choose a path in keeping with their own formulation of risk. She strips emotion out of decision making and helps clients understand decisions from a strategic and pragmatic viewpoint.

    Legal 500 UK 2023

  • Helen Young leads the family team and sets a great example to those in her department with her hard work ethic and approachable style. She’s very popular with her clients and fellow professionals. I enjoy working alongside her.

    Legal 500 UK 2023

  • Debenhams Ottaway have a great team of family lawyers led by the excellent Helen Young. Great team approach to working too.

    Legal 500 UK 2023

  • Helen Young is always on top of her cases and gives very realistic and settlement-focused advice to her clients.

    Legal 500 UK 2023

  • Helen Young is knowledgeable, reliable, considerate and trustworthy; she has provided a first-class service, helping me through a very difficult divorce. I have found her to be knowledgeable and thorough, and her attention to detail has been outstanding.

    Chambers and Partners 2022

  • Helen Young has been hugely supportive and helpful in navigating the divorce settlement process with me. I am grateful for her calm manner and ability to negotiate detailed and complicated issues within the settlement. Her attention to detail is excellent, but in addition to that she also has a way of smoothing contentious matters and enabling all sides to remain calm and purposeful. She has been a very steadying hand in a difficult period, and has truly contributed to the outcome of our divorce being as amicable as possible.

    Legal 500 UK 2022

  • Helen has been an excellent lawyer. She understands my feeling well and is always able to explain the solution clearly and concisely. She has excellent knowledge on the law and is always able to propose a solution to the best of interests.

    Daniella Labi

  • Helen’s assistance and advice to me throughout the difficult separation and divorce process was calm, intelligent, supportive and effective. She was able to explain my options to me and I found her advice to be always measured, proportionate and wise. I am so grateful for her support through the process which was so new and daunting to me. She helped keep a calm eye on things, and also handled the complex details of the case skilfully and with a brilliant eye for detail. I had total trust in her and am sincerely grateful for her help.

    Client

  • Quick responses, clarity of written communication, level of expertise in navigating a complex situation across two countries.

    Client

  • Thank you so much to Helen Young for the professional, efficient and supportive way in which she dealt with my divorce. I am extremely grateful and would recommend anyone in my position to contact Helen.

    Client

  • Helen was very professional and knowledgeable but also very supportive and understanding.

    Client

  • Thank you for all your help and excellent work over the past few years, guiding me through the minefield of the separation agreement and divorce process. It is a huge relief to of finally completed it all.

    Client

  • I felt secure and happy with the service. Helen and Jackie are so friendly, helpful and they listened to me. Lovely ladies.

    Mrs P A Smith

  • Helen made me feel comfortable straight away offering me advice and choices and being patient and understanding. She always explained everything with transparency and empathy.

    Daniella Labi

  • Helen was thorough and tenacious throughout the process. She caught errors from the other solicitor and followed up appropriately when the other solicitor was slow to respond. She also took the time to understand the complexity of writing a UK divorce that would also need to be filed in the US. I knew I could trust her to follow through on the process, which made it less stressful for me.

    Client

  • Helen Young works like a Trojan, has an excellent forensic eye and thinks several strategic moves ahead at all stages. She has incredibly good client care; delivering no-nonsense but empathetic advice.

    Legal 500 UK 2024

  • Helen adopts a sensible and conciliatory approach to matters and in how she conducts negotiations.

    Chambers UK 2024

  • Helen is an exceptional solicitor; I am so glad she is on our side.

    Chambers UK 2024

  • I feel extremely fortunate having Helen to lead me through the complexities of separation and financial negotiations.

    Chambers UK 2024

  • I am very grateful that Helen took time to assist me, to discuss my options and to provide very practical advice.

    Chambers UK 2024

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