Immediately following separation, there may be uncertainty as to parenting arrangements for you and your children. During this time, it is important to turn your mind to important documentation in respect of your child, such as their passport.
The Family Law Act deals with what is referred to as “adult child maintenance” or “child maintenance”. The purpose of this Division is to ensure a proper level of financial support of children by their parents, having regard to their respective means.
In the era of smartphones and expectations of instant communication, people often send messages on the spur of the moment, which are riddled with emotion in the middle of their family law proceedings. How does the Court view such communications?
If you have not reached agreement and arrangements for spending time with your children for any upcoming Christmas holiday period, you need to act quickly. The Family Court sets a deadline of 4.00 pm on the second Friday of November each year for applications to be filed for parenting matters regarding the Christmas holiday period to be filed.
If separated parties have reached agreement regarding their property settlement, this is often formalised by filing an application for Consent Orders with the Family Court. Once the application is filed, a judicial officer will review it, and if satisfied, the Orders will be sealed and made into Final Orders.
When a marriage or relationship breaks down, a question that often comes to mind is, “They make so much more money than me, I am sick, I am keeping the care of the children – will I be compensated for our different future needs?”
The outcome of property settlement for different couples is never the same due to a number of factors. In this blog, we are going to look at how a short marriage or short relationship (a couple of years as opposed to, for example, several decades) may impact property settlement negotiations and finalisation.
When working through and deciding arrangements for children, separated parents have the option of informal arrangements by way of a parenting plan or formalising arrangements by way of parenting orders from the Family Court.
Getting married in Australia is governed by legislation enacted back in 1961, being the Marriage Act 1961 (“the Act”). The Act sets all the legal requirements for you to marry in Australia.
For certain separated families, it is appropriate for the time one parent spends with the children to be supervised by a third party. There are many reasons why supervised time is either requested by one parent, offered by one parent or ordered by the Court.
When separating from a former spouse or de-facto partner, it is common for parties to work together to reach a settlement on their financial relationship so both parties can move on to the next stage of their life. However, it is just as common for one party to delay finalising that property settlement.
Personal cross-examination of other parties is not permitted in certain circumstances in family law proceedings where allegations of family violence have been raised. Where the ban applies, any cross-examination must be undertaken by a lawyer.