Sital Fontenelle is the Head of the department for the Kingsley Napley Family team, recognised as one of the top teams in family law both nationally and internationally.
With over twenty years of expertise in Family Law, Sital is a recognised leader in her field. She is consistently listed in UHNW Chambers & Partners, Chambers & Partners (Family/Children), Legal 500, and Citywealth. She has been listed in eprivateclient’s 50 Most Influential 2025 and is a member of the Resolution Cohabitation committee. Sital has also been acknowledged in the Private Client Elite Directory 2025, which recognises the world's leading private client and trust practitioners.
Sital specialises in complex financial matters in divorce, including international jurisdictional cases, negotiating and drafting pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements, and tracing assets and inherited wealth. She has extensive experience in offshore trusts, family businesses, and inherited wealth cases.
Beyond her strategic advice in complex international cases, Sital is known for pushing boundaries to find innovative solutions and providing constructive and pragmatic advice during her clients' most challenging times.
Recent cases demonstrate her ability to handle substantial assets with discretion. She has acted for entrepreneurs, and high-profile individuals across multiple jurisdictions as well as advising trustees and interveners.
Sital collaborates with wealth managers, tax specialists, and international counsel to provide comprehensive solutions that protect her clients' wealth across generations.
The family team have also recently launched NUPTIAL LEGAL, a service dedicated to providing expert advice and support for anyone wishing to enter into, amend or contest a pre or postnuptial agreement.
Notable cases:
AH & BH (Premarital Agreement) [2024] EWFC 125 - Acted for a wife who successfully challenged her prenuptial agreement.
X v Y (Child Arrangements Order) [2019] EWHC 2872 (Fam) - Appeal to the High Court in respect of first instance judge’s decision unilaterally to make an order that the child live with his mother. Permission to appeal granted.
Press & publication:
Regularly quoted in Spears, The Times, Financial Times, The Telegraph and the Independent.
Private judging increasingly popular in resolving financial aspects of divorce - eprivateclient, February 2025
Family court urged to prioritise domestic abuse allegations over parental alienation claims - Today's Family Lawyer, December 2024
Lawyers welcome 'parental alienation' guidance - The Law Society Gazette, December 2024
Love is in the air: The most popular places for marriage in England and Wales - The Independent, June 2024
Speaking appointments:
Chair at TL4 HNW International Summit – Lisbon 2025
Speaker for ThoughtLeaders4 HNW Divorce Litigation - 4th Annual Flagship Conference 2024
Speaker for ThoughtLeaders4 Private Client Advisory and Litigation Forum: Paris 2024
Speaker at Informa International Trust and Private Client conference, 2024
"Sital Fontenelle fights really hard for her clients. She has bags of energy and ideas - and never lets go if she thinks she is right." Legal 500, 2025
"She brings a real energy is to do the best by the client in the most efficient and collaborative way possible." Chambers and Partners, 2025
"She is great at what she does and will go even further. Brilliant with international family law cases." Chambers and Partners, High Net Worth Guide 2024
Country
United Kingdom