Family Law

Our office can help you with:

• Divorce applications
• Consent orders for financial agreements
• Consent orders for parenting agreements
• Pre-nuptial agreements

1. Divorce applications

For divorce applications you will need to prove:

• You are married to your partner – you need to provide your marriage certificate
• You are an Australian permanent resident/citizen – provide your passport details or Australian citizenship details
• You have been separated from your partner for 12 months – separate addresses on your driver licences would assist

Where both parties are separated but still live in the same home, they would need to provide evidence that they have lived completely separate lives for the 12 months prior to the divorce application.

Divorce applications can be jointly signed by both parties and either party would not need to appear in Court except whether there is a child under the age of 18 years in the marriage and then one party has to appear in Court to confirm that the child is being well cared for. The Court would need to be convinced that the welfare of the child is properly taken care of before a divorce can be granted.

2. Financial agreements:

Financial agreements relate to the distribution of assets in a relationship. They are generally final settlements. Matters that are generally taken into the account include: the length of the relationship, financial and personal contribution of each party to their marriage, and which parent would provide the major future care for children in the relationship.

The contribution of parties in home duties and care of the children have the same weight as a working spouse, and perhaps sometimes higher where the person staying at home may have sacrificed their own career and financial opportunities to maintain a family life for the couple.

Consideration should also be given to the future financial situation of each party. Where a spouse would have difficulty finding work due to stopping their career opportunities to care for children, or where a spouse elects to care for the children long term, then there is a greater need for financial agreements to provide for the more financially dependent spouse. Consideration by the “poorer” spouse should also be given to claims for spouse maintenance as a supplementary to financial agreements.

Financial agreements are also required to take into account the superannuation accounts of both parties.

3. Parenting agreements:

Parenting agreements can be oral or in writing. They can be varied to take into account changing circumstances of each parent and also the children. Both parents have shared responsibility for the care and support of their children.

All parenting agreements need to be in the best interests of the child. What is in the best interests of the child is often determined by the parents. However, it is also relevant to consider the voice of the child as to whether the child wishes to say what they would like in the parenting agreement. While there may be concerns as to the child’s maturity to determine their own future, the child’s opinion should be taken into account by each parent in considering the future care of the child, and also the child should be given feedback as to the parents’ final decisions.

As a rule, parents should not denigrate each other in front of their children and should be neutral and supportive of their child’s wishes to develop positive relationships with both parents. Also, parents should not use children as part of their bargaining tools to encourage children to say exactly what the parent looking after them wants them to say. Children should not feel that they are part of the conflict between parents. Rather, they should feel that their parents are doing all that they can to make sure that the children are well cared for and loved by both parents.

Parenting agreements are by nature, future oriented and should take into account the parents’ future interests as well as the children’s future interests. The issues associated with a parent’s relocation to another City or State, needs to be taken into account in the level of contact the child has with each parent.

Child support: Both parents can determine the level of child support payments in a parenting plan. However, where a parent has to apply for a government benefit, it is likely that Centrelink will require a level of financial support equal to or higher than that provided under the Child Support Act.

4. When cases should be referred to the Court – currently the Federal Circuit Court

The Court is recommended as a last resort where parties are not able to negotiate their own settlements. A Court case is also recommended where:

• the cases are highly complex and parties cannot reach an agreement;
• where there is unequal bargaining power between the parties;
• where one parent may feel intimidated by the other dominating parent and may agree to a parenting plan that is not appropriate for the care of their child;
• where there are high conflict families;
• where there is possibility of abuse or violence against either of the parties or their children and;
• where a parent needs to have an airport alert to prevent a parent taking children out of Australia without consent from the other parent.