When a court is considering what parenting orders to make, the court must make orders in the child’s 'best interest'. One of the ‘best interest’ factors under the Family Law Actincludes the right to enjoy his or her culture. A recent case has considered this. The Facts: The children were 13, 11 and 7 at [...]
Children react differently to their parent's separating, depending on the children's age. Here are some of the different needs that have been identified for children of different age groups: Infants: Predictability Time with parents who nurture them Parents who play with them, listen carefully to their efforts to communicate and keep them safe Visiting schedules [...]
Here are some explanations of common Family Law terms: Affidavit: a written statement by a party or witness, it is the main way of presenting the facts by a person in court. Consent Order: an Order approving an agreement between parties in financial matters and/or parenting matters. Contravention: when a court finds [...]
In court cases parties may issue subpoenas to people who are not involved in the case to produce documents relevant to the case to the court. When a subpoena is issued to a third party that person may be put to trouble in searching for and gathering together the documents and providing them to the [...]
In 2011 a law was passed by the Queensland Parliament which allowed couples, including same gender couples to enter into a civil partnership and hold a civil ceremony. The legislation was amended by the Newman government in 2012 to remove the ability for a couple to hold a civil ceremony only allowing the parties to formally [...]
If a parent (or child) can't be located and a court application has been filed the Family Court has the power to make orders which direct government departments (i.e. Centrelink and the Child Support Agency) to provide the court with location information. This is called a 'location order'. Naturally, in a world of domestic violence [...]
Under the Family Law Act superannuation is treated as property and is able to be divided in a property settlement. Superannuation can either be retained by the member spouse or split between both spouses. A request for information on a member spouse’s superannuation interest can be made by either spouse. The person requesting the information [...]
The term ‘relocation’ in family law refers to one parent seeking to relocate their home, with the children, some distance away from the other parent. Relocation matters are difficult and often a decision is not made until final hearing. So, how far is too far? And what should the court do? Let’s consider (2) recent [...]
Beyond child support, the Family Law Act (FLA) provides for another financial support cost that a father may need to contribute to, it's "Child birth expenses". A recent case considered a mother's clam for "child birth expenses' from the father for a period of the pregnancy and a short period after the birth of the [...]
In response to the Special DV Taskforce Report, “Not Now, Not Ever” delivered in February this year, the Queensland Government has accepted the recommendations and is progressively implementing them. One of the changes currently before Parliament relates to the use of body-worn cameras by Police Officers. The Taskforce recommendation was that the Queensland Police "develop [...]
