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What You Need to Show the Court to Obtain a Divorce

In order to obtain a divorce, there are certain requirements depending on whether you have children under the age of 18 years. If you do have children under the age of 18 years, your divorce lawyer will need to demonstrate to the Court that:

  1. Proper arrangements in all the circumstances have been made for the care, welfare and development of the children, or
  2. That there are circumstances by reason of which the divorce order should take effect even though the court is not satisfied that such arrangements have been made.

There is a positive obligation on the Court not to allow divorce orders to take effect unless proper arrangements have been made for the children. Your divorce lawyer will consider the following factors when advising you: whether any child support is being paid, whether both parents are spending time with the children, the health of the children and whether they are attending and progressing in school. [...]  READ MORE →

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The Family Court Merger – Our Family Law Lawyers Outline What You Need to Know

By Chloe Elkerton, Family Law Solicitor

Last week the Morrison Government passed a Bill that will undoubtedly result in the biggest overhaul of Australia’s Family Court system since 1975.

Under our current Family Law structure, family law lawyers will tell you that matters proceed to hearing in one of either two Courts:

  1. The Family Court of Australia – which deals with complex family law matters, and
  2. The Federal Circuit Court of Australia – which deals with less complex family law matters and also other areas of law including migration, bankruptcy, human rights, industrial law and more.

The Family Court of Australia was established in 1976 as a stand-alone specialist Court. It recognised that many family law matters are complex and require specialised Judges and staff to support vulnerable Australian families. [...]  READ MORE →

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4 Important Questions You Should Ask Your Divorce Lawyer

By Carolyn Munk, Principal Family Lawyer. 

Your Divorce Lawyer will tell you that an early practical and cost effective outcome is the best outcome for you and for the family as a whole.

Sometimes in complex matters that is not possible, but in many cases, if the client is well informed then such an outcome is easier to achieve.

Our Divorce Lawyers try to ensure our clients are informed about the following considerations:-

  1. What will be the impact of litigation upon the family and the future of the family to work together
  2. What is my best likely outcome
  3. What are the risks and the worst likely outcome
  4. How much will the legal costs be if I:-
    • Settle the case now
    • Try to see what settlement can be achieved if I participate in mediation
    • Proceed to litigation and let a Judge decide what financial and or parenting Orders should be made for my family.

While the Judges do the best they can in a limited time frame and with a limited knowledge of your family; there are significant Court delays and these are now probably the worst that they have ever been. [...]  READ MORE →

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What is ‘child custody’ and its influence on Australian Family Law

Separating from a former spouse is a difficult situation and is emotionally draining. Unfortunately, the effects of separation also affect your children. Questions begin to rise, such as ‘who is to have custody of our children’ ‘or how will child custody work’.

The phrase ‘child custody’ is often used by parents in discussions as to where the children should live and how often the children should spend time with the non-resident parent.

However, under the Family Law Act, the words ‘child custody’ are not used; rather, the legislation uses the terms parental responsibility’ and the Courts make Orders which includes the phrases ‘spend time with’ and ‘live with’ [...]  READ MORE →

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The Presumption of Equal Shared Parental Responsibility – What this means and how it affects your child – Child Custody Lawyer advice

The presumption of equal shared parental responsibility is a consideration of the Court when determining child custody applications. The “best interests of the child” is an enshrined consideration under Australian law and is the foremost consideration in child custody cases. As such, the Act set out under section 61DA (1) that it is ‘in the best interests of the child for the parents to have equal shared parental responsibility for the child.’ It is important to note however that this presumption looks to shared responsibility, not shared time. Furthermore, it requires both parents to make joint decisions about the long-term considerations for the child. Therefore parents are required to make a genuine effort to consult with the other parent and come to a general consensus about such decisions. This is all in the best interests of the child. [...]  READ MORE →

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Court introduces new initiatives to help alleviate the significant delays in the Court

A divorce lawyer will advise you that the Court delays in hearing and finalising your property application under the Family Law Act have in some registries became even longer. It is for this reason that the divorce lawyer tries to encourage their client to consider mediation either privately or through the Court.

The Court itself is also considering options to help reduce the back log of cases.  A divorce lawyer will provide information about the PPP Program currently being tried out in some registries including at the Parramatta Federal Circuit Court. [...]  READ MORE →

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Changing Existing Parenting Orders

Once final parenting orders are made in family law proceedings, they can only be changed with the assistance of your child custody lawyer in specific circumstances, including:

  1. where the parties agree to a change, or
  2. where a party can show that there has been a significant change of circumstances that makes a change necessary.

The Court will generally not “reopen” parenting proceedings that have been finalised to change parenting orders, unless there is a good reason for doing so and it is in the child or children’s best interest.   Continuing litigation about parenting matters is generally not considered to be in the best interest of the children, or the parties. [...]  READ MORE →

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Question of Paternity – How Child Support Lawyers Can Help

When making an application for child support with the Department of Human Services (DHS), your Child Support Lawyers need to satisfy the Registrar that the person being assessed to pay the costs of the child is a parent of the child. This is often called “proof of parentage”. While parents may be biological parents, the term parent also includes adoptive parents, where the child has been born as a result of artificial conception procedures, or if the child was born as a result of a surrogacy. [...]  READ MORE →

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What Happens if I Breach My Parenting Orders?

Once the Family Court has made parenting Orders either at hearing or by consent, each party must comply with those orders. If one party has departed from those Orders there may be serious consequences for such breach. You should seek legal advice from a divorce lawyer if you or your ex-partner believe there has been a breach of the orders.

If you are unable to resolve the breach, one option forward is a Contravention Application. Your divorce lawyer may file a contravention application in the Family or Federal Circuit Court when one party alleges the other has breached their parenting orders. Contravention proceedings are generally confined to very clear cases. Your divorce lawyer will need to set out that the other party: [...]  READ MORE →

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What is the Role of the Mediator in Family Law Mediation?

Parties often attend family law mediation as an opportunity to try and resolve their family law dispute whether it be custody matters, property distribution or child support matters. However often parties can be confused as to the role of the Mediator in family law mediation and their part in assisting the parties in reaching a resolution.

The greatest misconception by parties is that the Mediator will provide the parties with legal advice. They will not. The Mediator must remain neutral and therefore will not advise either party as to the legal merits of their case. The Mediator’s prime role is to facilitate the family law mediation process in a way that enables both parties to effectively identify the issues in dispute and assist with generating options that might resolve these issues. [...]  READ MORE →

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Interim Hearings – What are They and Will I Need a Family Law Lawyers Assistance?

An interim hearing can be described as Court event that gives the parties a temporary or short-term outcome until all the evidence can be considered, tested and evaluated at final hearing with the help of your family law lawyers. The Court typically takes a conservative approach at the interim hearing, generally taking a path that is least likely to cause harm to the child. Any order made on an interim basis with the assistance of your family law lawyers may be changed once the matter has been heard on a final basis. [...]  READ MORE →

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DISPUTE RESOLUTION – Our Family Law Lawyer looks at the new digital service “amica”

Dispute resolution is often used by couples who are separating or divorcing.  A benefit of dispute resolution is that an agreement can be reached, without the added cost and complexity of litigation or other formal legal processes.  Dispute resolution processes also allow the parties to have greater control and management of the process and outcome.

A family law lawyer can provide advice in relation to the best resolution option for a dispute.  A family law lawyer can help to understand a person’s rights and responsibilities and the law that may apply to that case.  This includes helping a couple going through separation to reach an agreement without the need to go to Court. [...]  READ MORE →