No. The Family Court will not be drawn into such abstract analysis, just as it will not be drawn on which school is better. Understandably these types of Court Applications are common place at the end of any given year, particularly when a child is about to commence schooling early the following year. Parents [...]
Separated parents are often faced with a situation where the other parent wishes to travel overseas with the child for the purposes of a holiday or visiting extended family. This can make the non-travelling parent anxious about the safety of the child during the period of travel, whether the child will be returned to [...]
In a recent interim hearing regarding parenting arrangements, the father took the unusual approach of seeking an order that his 12 year old daughter attend a boarding school. The existing arrangement had been that the child 'spend time' with her father 2 evenings a week, one day each weekend and during the school holiday [...]
Once a Court Order is made (either at an Interim or Final Hearing) if one of the parties is dissatisfied with the decision, they can Appeal, and try and set aside the decision. An Appeal is not a rehearing of the matter (not hearing all the evidence again) but it requires the Appeal Court to [...]
It is important to be aware of the effect of relationships upon a Will, particularly whether the relationship is a marriage or a de facto relationship. Marriage revokes a Will, unless the Will is made in contemplation of marriage, but the commencement of a de facto relationship has no such impact on a Will. Divorce [...]
A divorce is legally defined as a dissolving of a marriage. The legal requirement for a divorce is 12 months separation. A nullity of a marriage, is totally different. A nullity is an Order of the Court that a marriage never existed. Court Orders for nullity of a marriage are rare as there are [...]
Q: I have been served with an Application for a Divorce. Can I oppose it? A: The only ground for a divorce is that the marriage has 'irretrievably broken down'. The evidence of this is 12 months separation. The only way then to stop a divorce being granted, is to show the court that there [...]
The Court recently considered an objection by the Police, to a subpoena they had received, on a number of grounds, including that the production of the documents was not in the 'public interest'. The matter involved parenting arrangements. The mother argued that the father should not have any time with the child on the [...]
The underlying legal requirement for each party in a property settlement is 'full and frank disclosure". When it doesn't happen in a consent order the court has the power to set aside the order and make a new one. In a recent case the husband was found - 10 years after the consent orders [...]
The court was recently asked to consider a property division, where the couple had only been married for a short period of time, in total just over 3 years. The husband proposed that each party retain the assets they brought in to the relationship and retain those assets which they currently held. The Judge [...]
