Accredited family law specialist - solicitors who have satisfactorily completed an advanced study program through the Queensland Law Society in family law. Affidavit - a written statement by a party or witness. It is the main way of presenting the facts of a case to the court. An affidavit must be signed before an authorised person [...]
The Family Law Watchlist (sometimes referred to as the Airport Watchlist) is a system designed to alert police to the movement of children overseas. It identifies whether children are leaving Australia. The Watchlist does not operate for domestic travel. A child's name may be placed on the Watchlist when; There is a court order [...]
Can the court order someone to leave a house? Yes. Since the changes to the domestic violence laws (DV) in Queensland in 2012, the court has been able to make an "ouster order". The law provides that in addition to the "standard provisions" (i.e. that the respondent spouse should be of 'good behaviour') if [...]
A spouse's interest under a Trust, depending on the nature of that interest and the degree of control can be treated as property by the Family Court. A recent case has considered whether the assets held in a Trust were assets of the parties’ marriage for family law purposes. The Facts The husband and [...]
The Family Court has no power to make orders in relation to unborn children. There is one limited exception however, and that relates more to the health and care of the pregnant woman. This exception is that a pregnant woman is able to make an application to the court seeking maintenance from the father for [...]
The answer is yes, but only in rare circumstances. Strictly speaking the order to compel is in reference to the child’s place of residence rather than the parent. A parent may be ordered to do all that is necessary to relocate the child’s residence but on a practical level this usually necessitates the parent moving [...]
In an interesting case, the court refused to make orders by consent as sought by the parents as the orders did not appear to be in the 'best interest' of the child. At the first court hearing orders were made for the child to 'live with' the mother and 'spend regular time' with his father. [...]
Unfortunately, parenting disputes often involve allegations of domestic violence by one or both spouses. In such cases, spouses often seek interim orders based on the alleged risk to the children and/or themselves as a result of the violence. The 'paramount consideration' for the Court must always be the 'best interests of the child/ren' and balancing [...]
Disputes often arise in family law cases about the value of a business that will form part of the matrimonial property and which will ultimately be under the control of one of the parties after settlement. Depending on whether the party is retaining or relinquishing their interest in the business, will often effect their [...]
The court recently considered a property settlement dispute where the wife had received a lottery win of $6 Million, six months after separation. The Facts: The parties had been married for 20 years. They had two children who were both adults at the time of the trial. Six months after separation, the wife purchased [...]
