Family Law

If one parent prevents the other parent from having contact with the child or children, it may be necessary to make an application for a recovery order and/or a location order. Location Orders and Recovery Orders are governed by Sections 67J and 67Q of the Family Law Act 1975 and address circumstances where a person is prevented…

The Federal Circuit Court of Australia and the Family Court of Australia jointly make up the Australian Family Law Courts. The two courts deal with a range of matters, including care of children, divorce and property settlement. Both courts operate under the same Commonwealth legislation, the Family Law Act 1975. It’s not uncommon for adults…

The Family Law Act applies to de facto relationships as well as to marriages. This means that court orders can be made regarding the division of property, spousal maintenance and other matters that arise following a separation whether the parties were legally married or in a de facto relationship. However, it is not always easy…

In Australia, a person may only be married to one person at any given time.  Section 94 of the Marriage Act 1961 provides that a person who is married shall not go through a form or ceremony of marriage with any person.  Marrying another person when one is already married is known as bigamy. Criminal…

Parents should think twice before taking their child overseas without first getting permission from the child’s other parent. A number of legal restrictions are in place to prevent a child leaving Australia without the consent of both parents. Even if you are only planning a short holiday, it is important to get permission from the…

Relationship breakdowns can be a source of emotional distress and grief.  These feelings can be inflated by the complex, and often unavoidable, exercise of dividing property. You may have an interest in the property you shared with your former partner, however, your name may not be on the property title. There are a number of…

The Registrar uses administrative formulas to calculate child support assessments. He or she considers income and care when calculating the child support a parent must pay. In special circumstances, the Registrar of Child Support can change an assessment. The provisions that empower the registrar to do this are found in Part 6A of the Child Support…

Presumptions of parentage are the framework courts and other agencies use to make an assumption about who the parents of a child are in the absence of direct evidence. In the past, a presumption of parentage was dictated by common law (court-made law). The common law presumption reflected traditional social norms: marriage only occurred between…

Contact services are agencies which provide trained staff to supervise the handover of children from one parent to another and to oversee a party’s time with the children. There are many privately run and government-run organisations which provide contact services. Reports by contact services Contact services can provide a report to the parties and to…

When the parties to a marriage or de facto relationship separate, it is important to consider how they hold their interest in assets, especially the matrimonial home. In Western Australia, it is possible to own property as joint tenants or tenants in common. Tenants in common usually hold a property with defined interests, which are…

In November 2019, the Sydney and Brisbane registries of the Federal Circuit Court implemented a new system. This system is the Discrete Property List and it is intended to fast-track simple property matters, with little delay and expense for parties. Why the Discrete Property List? It is well known that matters in the Federal Circuit…

A trial, also commonly referred to as a hearing, is a contested proceeding that determines an outcome for the parties. In respect of Family Law matters, this will usually involve parties that have separated and require judicial determination for parenting and/or property matters. A final hearing leads to orders made on a final basis, where…

If a Child Support Assessment is issued in Australia, there are several methods the Child Support Agency can use to recover debt. These include making arrangements with the payer’s employer to deduct the amount owing from wages, garnishing the amount owed from bank accounts and intercepting tax refunds. However, if the paying parent moves overseas…

Adverse possession is a property law principle that allows a person to claim ownership of land without paying for it. Adverse possession occurs where a person has enjoyed uninterrupted and exclusive possession of land for a period of 15 years. Under Section 60 of the Transfer of Land Act, adverse possession can be the basis…

Section 121 of the Family Law Act imposes a widespread prohibition on the publication of any part of family law proceedings. The provision makes it unlawful (subject to exceptions) to publish information that identifies any person who is a party to such proceedings or who is otherwise connected to proceedings. The rationale behind this provision…

In the 2019 Family Court decision of Ellwood v Ravenhill, the court decided an application by the mother in a parenting matter where orders had been made in respect of two children aged 15 and 17 on the application of the father. The father had made the application without fulfilling the requirements of Section 601,…