When a relationship breaks down, parents are often faced with the difficult decision of deciding a parenting style that suits both parents, yet still upholds the best interests of the children. Since the Shared Parenting amendments to the Family Law Act, that commenced on 1 July 2006, the debate has continued as to whether or [...]
There is a common misunderstanding that if one of the parties to a marriage enters it with an improper motive (e.g. immigration), or there is a failure by one of the parties to truly commit to the marriage, then it may be possible to obtain a nullity of the marriage (i.e. as if it had [...]
When considering a parenting matter, the Family Law Act is clear that the paramount consideration should be "what is the best interests of the child". The objects of the Law in terms of parenting arrangements are to ensure that the best interests of children are met by: Ensuring that children have the benefit of both [...]
If parents are able to come to an agreement on the parenting arrangements for their child, the agreement may be documented in two ways, either a Parenting Plan, or a Consent Order. Both Parenting Plans and Consent Orders can include a wide range of issues regarding a child's day-to-day and long term care, such [...]
New Laws: On 1 March 2009 the law for property settlement in de facto relationships will change completely. The changes are the most dramatic to ever effect de facto couples and will have a profound effect on the outcomes that will be able to be achieved. Date of Separation: A couple's date of separation will determine which [...]
At the end of July,2004, the Federal Government made its first public response to the “shared parenting inquiry” recommendations, issued at the end of December, 2003. That day, the Courier Mail committed four (4) pages to articles on the matter, leaving no doubt that Family Law has very much returned to the social and political [...]
The Family Court recently considered a case where one of the parties had an expectation of inheriting his parent's substantial estate. The parties were married for 16 years with two children. The Trial Judge determined that the property pool was valued at $864,000 and that the contributions were equal, but made an adjustment of [...]
Prenuptial agreements are personal relationship agreements built on commercial contracts. They are coming into vogue in Queensland, but how do they work and are they really necessary? "What’s love got to do with it?” crooned Tina Turner in her popular hit song. More and more, it seems, love has less to do with it. [...]
With more than half of all marriages and defacto relationships resulting in separation and divorce you would like to think that most people have some understanding, either from personal experience or from the experience of friends or family, of how the legal process for divorce and separation works. With the rapid legal changes that are [...]
