Family Law

Attendance at a mediation is a totally different position than the attendance at a court hearing.  You as a participant are part of the decision making process.  In court the decision making is [...]

Parties need to take care when commencing an application to court.  The critical question is whether the parties fall within the provisions of the family law legislation that will permit an order [...]

How long must a payer continue to pay spousal maintenance and in what circumstances were questions considered in Bodily & Hand (2019) 59 Fam LR 425 [2019] Fam CA 210 The parties had separated [...]

Be careful in letting time lapse following a separation in a de facto relationship situation.  If you wish to institute proceedings against a de facto partner following a separation you should do [...]

What if your partner has transferred his interest in the family home to you prior to the Bankruptcy?  Will the Trustee do anything? The answer is yes because the Trustee must be assured that [...]

Consider what happens when your partner is declared bankrupt.  The Trustee appointed by the court to the estate of your partner stands in the shoes of your partner and will take over the assets [...]

Appearances can be deceptive as to ownership. What is property? Section 4 of the Family Law Act defines “property” to include real estate and personal property such as furniture and furnishings, [...]

So how does a court take into account allegations of violence? Does the court make any adjustment in favour of the party who has suffered from the alleged violence? In 1997 the case of Kennon v [...]

In the 2018 case of Harris and Dewell the facts were that the Trust Deed establishing the unit trust had conferred the benefits of the trust upon the sole unit holder who was the father of the [...]

In 1981 the High Court of Australia considered the treatment of trust in the case of Ascot Investments Pty Ltd v Harper.  The Court said quite clearly that the broad definition of discretionary [...]