What type of lawyer do you need?
As your family lawyer we can provide you with advice with respect to your family law matter including property settlement and parenting matters. However, from time to time there may be other areas of law that arise as a result of a separation where we may need to refer you to another lawyer who specialises in that particular area of law. What might those issues be?
Other lawyers that we may need to refer you to include the following:
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Wills and Estates lawyer including Succession Planning lawyer
– if you do not have a Will or an Enduring Power of Attorney we may refer you to a lawyer who can prepare these for you or provide you with advice if you have any existing Will or Enduring Powers of Attorney and want to change them. Upon separation you should review your Will and Enduring Power of Attorney particularly after your Divorce which voids a former spouse or partner who you may have listed as an Executor or beneficiary in a Will.
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Criminal lawyer
– if your matter in any way raises any issues of a criminal nature whether or not you have been charged for any criminal offence, we may refer you to a criminal lawyer. If there are allegations of domestic violence made against you which include elements of a criminal nature such as stalking or where you have allegedly breached a domestic violence order we will refer you to a criminal lawyer. Some more common areas now include publication of Family Court proceedings such as on social media including Facebook as it is an offence against section 121 of the Family Law Act 1975 to publicise any account of any proceedings or any part of any proceedings where the parties, the children and any associated party can be identified. Breaching section 121 of the Family Law Act carries a penalty of up to one year imprisonment.
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Defamation lawyer
– if you have defamed your ex-spouse or partner or have been on the receiving end of defamation you may need advice from a defamation lawyer. In the age of social media such as Twitter and Facebook allegations of defamation are more common.
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Commercial lawyer
– if you have various companies or trusts we may need to refer you to a commercial lawyer to assist you with respect to those entities particularly if you are wanting to restructure entities after a separation.
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Employment lawyer
– it may be that your former partner or spouse is currently employed by you or a company which is controlled by you or you may be the one employed by a former spouse or partner. As a result of separation you may wish to terminate the employment of your former spouse or need to receive advice if your employment is terminated. It is important that you obtain proper legal advice from an employment lawyer in these circumstances as certain time limits may apply particularly for unfair dismissal.
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Property lawyer
– we may refer you to a property lawyer in the event you reach final consent orders and a real property needs to be transferred to your partner or spouse. There may also be other instances where property lawyers become involved including where caveats are involved or where the severance of legal title to a property is required. In some instances we as family lawyers can complete some of these documents on your behalf.
What the above illustrates is that there is a need, from time to time, for family law clients to consult with another lawyer in a different area of law. As family lawyers at Michael Lynch Family Lawyers we only specialise in family law matters but should other areas of law arise we may need to refer you to another lawyer who practices in and specialises in that area of law.
Please contact us at Michael Lynch Family Lawyers on should you require assistance with your matter by calling (07) 3221 4300 of filling out the online form.