Family Law

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,…

An injunction is an order of the court which prevents a person from doing a certain act or thing or requires a person to do a certain act or thing. In family law cases, a party may apply for an injunction either in relation to a parenting matter or a financial matter. Parenting matters  In…

An issue that frequently arises during property settlement proceedings is how to treat legal fees that have been paid by parties. Most commonly, this occurs in the context of one party arguing that paid legal fees should be notionally added back into the asset pool. This increases the size of the asset pool available for…

Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week announced that the government will convene a Joint Parliamentary Committee of both the House and Senate to conduct an enquiry into the family law system. The family law system has already been subject to two extensive reviews in the last two years. The Terms of Reference that have been…

In family law proceedings each party will normally be expected to bear his or her own legal costs. However, a court has a discretion to order one party to pay the costs of another party in some circumstances. It is important to consider whether such circumstances apply before applying for costs orders. When can courts…