The Appeal Court of the Family Court recently considered an appeal by the husband against the trial judge’s decision refusing to order DNA testing to establish parentage of a child. The facts were: The parties were married and there was one child born during the marriage. At the date of trial the child was [...]
Every day the Family Court makes decisions in all sorts of cases. Many people are dissatisfied with the decisions the court makes. For those that are dissatisfied, what options do they have? After the determination of a hearing, whether it is an interim or final hearing a party may appeal the decision. The appeal [...]
An unfortunate but sometimes real situation is when parents are in dispute in court about arrangements for their children and one of the parents dies. What happens then? It’s not what you might automatically assume. A recent court case considered such an issue. In that case, the parents were in court disputing the parenting [...]
The court recently had to consider how to treat a large inheritance received by the wife during the relationship. In particular, the court had to consider whether those assets should be excluded and quarantined from distribution, or whether everything should be included in the pool available to distribute. The facts: The wife received an [...]
Does a redundancy payment received after separation get included in a property settlement? The Family Court recently considered the question where the wife argued that she and the husband had contributed equally to the husband’s redundancy that was received post-separation. What did the court decide? The couple had been together for 19 years. During [...]
At the time of a separation from your spouse or partner the question you might be asking yourself is “what is the property settlement process after separation?” or “how much will I get?” The property settlement process can take place any time after separation has occurred, you don’t have to wait for a divorce. [...]
Your child has been on holiday time with their other parent, but hasn't been returned to you as agreed. What do you do? Steps can be taken, and quickly, to ensure their recovery and return to you. Here’s what they are: Recovery Order: There is a recovery process, under the Family Law Act, if [...]
When does Child Support stop? The Child Support Act sets out the few events that will terminate a Child Support assessment, some of them include: If the CSA has accepted a Child Support agreement where both parents have agreed that payments should cease on a specified date; or If the parents have reconciled for [...]
For most couples it is not uncommon that one spouse will earn more than the other, particularly when that lower income earning spouse has taken on the homemaker role. In a recent case, the court had to consider whether an adjustment should be made to the property division in the wife’s favour, since the [...]
A family pet is often considered as part of the family, but the law in Australia provides that pets are considered chattels (property). In a divorce, their ownership is determined by the court in a property settlement. Whilst such cases are rare, a recent case has considered such an issue. The Facts The couple [...]
