Services

Services we offer

Divorce

Australian family law operates under a system of ‘no fault’ divorce. This means that the Family Court does not take into account the reason or cause for why the marriage ended. If you have been separated from your spouse for at least 12 months and provided your marriage is longer than 2 years, you may be eligible to apply for a divorce in the Family Court.

An application for divorce can be made jointly or by one party. All applications for divorce through the Family Court of WA are now lodged online through the eCourts portal. Whether or not you need to attend a hearing for the divorce will depend on your circumstances at the time of the application.

Once your divorce is granted, it will be finalized one month and one day after the hearing. Following the issue of your divorce order, you are able to re-marry.

Make an appointment today to consult with us and receive advice on which is the best option for you.

Parenting Disputes

If you share children with your partner, then following a separation, arrangements regarding the proper care of the children should be made. The most important consideration taken by the Family Court in deciding the care arrangements is “What is in the best interests of the child”.

The legislation presumes that both parents have equal shared parental responsibility for the child and outlines several different factors for the Court to consider when deciding on the most appropriate care arrangements for the child. Every child’s needs are different and therefore the best arrangements for your child should take into account all the relevant issues for your family.

Parents, step-parents, grandparents, guardians or any other person concerned with the care, welfare or development of the child may apply for parenting orders in the Family Court.

Unless exempted, parties are required to attend Family Dispute Resolution (“FDR”) and make genuine attempts to resolve parenting matters before they file an application in the Family Court.

If you can reach an agreement at FDR, we can help you to prepare the necessary document to formalize the parenting agreement either as a parenting plan or apply for Consent Orders.

Make an appointment today to consult with us and see how we can help you to determine the best care arrangements for your children after your separation.

Property Settlement

Following a separation, most people will find they need to do a property settlement with their former spouse so that the martial finances can be untangled to allow each of you financial independence moving forward

Whilst each case can be quite unique and the legislation does not provide a formula for the property division, the relevant facts of each marriage are carefully considered together with the parties’ circumstances when determining if a settlement is just and equitable.

When the Court decides on what is a just and equitable division of marital property, the following steps are taken:

It needs to be satisfied that it is just and equitable to make an order for property settlement in the parties’ circumstances.
Identify the assets, liabilities and financial resources of the marriage.
Determine and assess the contributions made by each party towards the acquisition, improvement and preservation of the assets. Contributions can be financial or non-financial, direct or indirect.
Determine if any adjustments should be made to either party for their future needs after consideration of the factors outlined in the legislation.
If the division is just and equitable in all circumstances of the parties’ marriage after assessing the above steps or if further alterations of property should be made.

In order to determine and vouch for the size of the marital asset pool, parties are required to exchange disclosure documents relating to their personal financial circumstances. This will also allow us to provide you with the most appropriate advice and for you to make an informed decision on the offer of settlement.

We can assist you to negotiate a settlement with your former spouse or if necessary, file an application in the Family Court seeking the appropriate property orders.

Make an appointment today to consult with us and see how we can help you to achieve a property settlement in your personal circumstances and the best options for you.

De Facto Relationship

A de facto relationship can be same sex or opposite sex.

Provided an unmarried couple meets the criteria for definition of a de facto relationship under the Family Court Act 1997, de facto couples have the same protection and entitlements as a married couple to financial matters following a separation.

To satisfy the definition of a de facto relationship, you must be able to satisfy the Court that both of you have lived together as a couple in a marriage-like relationship for a minimum period of 24 months.

There are a range of factors the Court considers when determining if the relationship was “marriage-like”. There are also other factors that may be applicable when considering the entitlements of a de facto partner in a property settlement matter.

Since 28 September 2022, new legislation has come into force in WA that now allows de facto couple to split their superannuation entitlements as part of a property settlement following a separation.

Make an appointment today to consult with us and receive advice if your relationship meets the criteria and what your options are.

Financial Agreements

If you are commencing a de facto relationship or marriage and wish to have the terms of agreement specified on the division of assets and liabilities in the unfortunate event of a separation with your partner, then you may wish to consider entering into a Financial Agreement (or “pre-nup” ).

A Financial Agreement in Australia is only binding upon the parties if the requisite criteria under the legislation are met. The main difference between a financial agreement and consent orders is that both parties must obtain independent legal advice and the certificate of advice attached to the financial agreement in order for it to be binding.

A Financial Agreement can also be considered if you are in a current relationship or have separated and wish to formalize the division of the property without the need to incur huge litigation costs.

Financial Agreements are complex documents and care should be taken to ensure it is prepared properly to minimise the risk of the document being challenged in the future.

Make an appointment today to consult with us and receive advice if a financial agreement is suitable for your circumstances and how we can help you prepare one.

Consent Orders

Should you and your former partner be able to reach an agreement for parenting and/or property matters amicably after the separation, you may wish to consider making a joint Application for Consent Orders.

The agreement you have reached with your former partner will be documented in the application and submitted to the Court without the parties having to attend at Court.

Having consent orders ensures you have the protection of Family Court orders which can be enforced if the other party fails to comply. You may also be entitled to be exempted from stamp duty if certain assets are to be transferred to you under the order.

Make an appointment today to consult with us and receive advice if you are eligible to make an application for consent orders.

Court Representation

We appreciate that being involved in Court proceedings can be daunting and confusing, especially if it is your first time.

We have extensive experience in representing clients in the Family Court and will use our best efforts to guide and support you through the various stages of the Court proceedings.

We will be able to provide you with information and advice on what to expect at upcoming court events, what documents need to be prepared and if appropriate, we may suggest that a barrister be engaged to advocate your case in the best manner possible.

Make an appointment today to consult with us and receive advice on how we can best help you with your Court representation.

Mediation Conference

There are several types of mediations models that parties can participate in following a separation to try and negotiate to resolve their disputes. The Family Court generally expects that the parties have attempted some form of mediation prior to filing an application in the Family Court.

The mediation can be facilitated through privately accredited mediators, not-for-profit organizations or through Legal Aid WA (subject to eligibility criteria). Some models of mediation do not allow for the parties to have legal representation whilst others encourage the parties to be legally represented.

Most mediation conferences are conducted on a confidential basis, meaning the discussions cannot be used as evidence in Court. This is to promote an environment for the parties to have open and honest discussions and make genuine attempts to reach a negotiated agreement.

If an agreement is reached through mediation for financial and/or parenting matters, we can help to prepare the appropriate documents to formalize the agreement to make it legally binding.

Make an appointment today to consult with us and receive advice if your situation is suitable for mediation and how we can assist you.