Category: Family Law

When couples separate, family lawyers are often called upon to negotiate the division of assets and to assist in formalising arrangements for the care of dependent children. However, we have observed a growing trend in clients requesting orders or...

Are you going through a property settlement with your former partner? If you or your partner has a Testamentary Trust, you may be keen to know how the Family Court will treat your interests in this kind of trust. (A Testamentary Trust is one that is...

(How to gain an exemption from a Section 60I Certificate) Before you can file an application in the Family Law Court in relation to parenting, you and the other parent must attend family dispute resolution (FDR) to try and resolve the issues. If the...

In Kane v Kane, the Family Court ignored the often-used “special contribution” principal in property settlements. This meant that the husband’s decision to invest the couple's superannuation in a certain way, which led to considerable gains, was...

In light of the recent high profile murder case involving Simon Gittany *, we thought it was timely to look at the definition of violence in the Family Law Act and how the Court deals with issues of domestic violence. When we hear the phrase family...

In Australia, married parties must settle their property interests prior to the 12-month anniversary of their divorce. They can be settled by way of a consent order or Binding Financial Agreement, and where an agreement cannot be reached, an application...

It is a common occurrence that one party to a marriage or relationship makes a significantly higher financial contribution either prior or during the relationship. Many people are often under a mistaken belief that in a relatively short relationship, a...

The Full Court of the Family Court of Australia chose to approve the divorce of Ms Price and Mr Underwood even though it was Mr Underwood’s case guardian who put forward the application for divorce. [Price & Underwood (Divorce Appeal) [2009]...

‘Relocation’ of children following a separation is a very hot and controversial issue for many parents and a common theme of applications to the Family Court. One parent may seek to move away for various reasons including financial hardship, to be...

When the responsibility for a child’s care is shared between parents or care-givers under parenting orders, issues can still arise over the child’s care arrangements. And in the event that a parent fails to return the child to the primary caregiver,...