Need Help With A Family Law Matter?

Get advice early! Whether it’s high conflict or amicable, separation is an emotionally challenging and stressful time. The decisions and actions you take in the period immediately before and after separation can have long-term consequences for your property and parenting matters. It can be difficult to navigate alone, and to know which way to turn. Whether you are in a married or de facto relationship that has broken down, or if you are considering separation, knowing what steps you should take can put your mind at ease and give you direction.

This depends. Family Court can be expensive, stressful and sometimes disempowering – a Judge will make decisions for you and your family. We firmly believe that it is best to keep decision making about your parenting and property matters in your hands, whenever possible.

We can work with you in many ways to keep you out of court and help you and your ex to reach agreement, including through negotiations, mediation and collaborative practice. However, in some cases, Family Court might be necessary.

Some of the common instances when Court becomes necessary are where negotiations have broken down and no agreement can be reached, when one of the parties is hiding assets or refusing to progress negotiations, or where your matter involves risk to children, and complex parenting concerns such as substance misuse, mental health issues or child abuse.

If you’ve been served with Court documents, you must attend Court on the hearing date. See the answer to our next question!

Take some deep breaths, make yourself a cup of tea, and book an appointment with one of our expert family lawyers. If you’ve received legal documents, we can help you understand your obligations, prepare your responding documents, and appear on your behalf at Court.

Once Court proceeding shave commenced, there can be strict timelines and procedural obligations that you must comply with. Furthermore, responding to a Court application is a complex process and it can take time to do it well. Evidence may need to be gathered to support your case. It’s best to speak to a lawyer straight away, to ensure you are properly prepared for your first Court hearing.

It’s also worth noting that if your matter is in Court, it’s not likely that everything will be resolved on the first court hearing date (though sometimes it is!). In our experience, litigation takes anywhere between 6 months on the shorter end of the spectrum, and can be ongoing for more than two years on the longer end of the spectrum. You can expect to attend several different court hearings throughout the course of your litigation. Mediation can also play a role. The good news is that only 3% of matters end up in litigation, and even fewer than that result in a trial or final hearing – most matters resolve by agreement at an interim stage of litigation, or by negotiation during the litigation process.

Yes, definitely. It’s important to finalise all financial ties with your ex-partner as soon as possible, to avoid making any claims against any new assets you might obtain later down the track, or with a new partner. Until you’re legally financially separated, you risk your ex-partner making a claim against you in the future, and you can’t move on with confidence.

There are also strict timelines for property settlements – you must bring an application for property settlement within 12 months of a divorce, or within 24 months of a de-facto relationship ending. If you miss these deadlines, this can jeopardize your rights to a property settlement, and make it a much for difficult and expensive process. Get advice early to learn where you stand.

It’s very likely that if you were in a relationship where you were a primary homemaker or primary carer for children, and your partner was the primary income earner, that you will still be entitled to share in the family home. Generally speaking, financial contributions to the relationship (such as those made by a primary income earner), and non-financial contributions such as caring for children, are considered to have equal value when we’re talking about property settlement. It’s possible that you’ll be able to keep the house, or at least stay in the house in the interim to keep stability for the children. We can talk to you about different ways of achieving this, such as through a property settlement or spousal maintenance claim. We recommend you get advice early to ensure your interest in the home can be protected while you negotiate a settlement, particularly if you’re not listed on title (eg: to avoid your ex selling the house without telling you!)

If you’ve been in a long relationship with your ex-partner, and most of the superannuation you’ve accumulated during the relationship, then usually your superannuation will be ‘equalised’ – meaning you both walk away with the same amount of superannuation each.

However, this isn’t always the case. Some separating couples may decide to leave their super alone, but take the value of their superannuation accounts into consideration when determining an equitable property settlement.

Superannuation interests can be divided between partners by agreement or by a court order when a relationship breaks down. This includes marriage and de facto relationships. The most common way of doing this is a superannuation splitting order.

The law relating to dividing superannuation is complex and can be affected by a range of factors, such as what kind of superannuation interest you have (defined benefit versus accumulation) and whether your superannuation is in the payment phase or not.

It can be so frustrating and upsetting when you’re being solutions focussed, and trying to reach a fair and equitable agreement, but you’re hitting road-blocks with your ex. Sometimes this behaviour is deliberate, and sometimes your ex might be feeling overwhelmed. More often than not, both parties just have a very different idea of what is just and fair, and what they want from their future – which is often part of the reason they broke up in the first place! Regardless of the reason, it can be distressing and frustrating. We can provide legal strategies to keep matters progressing and to reach agreement, and we can provide emotional support and genuine empathy for the unique challenges of your situation. If necessary, and if you request it, we can provide referrals to support services and courses who can help you navigate the complex emotional landscape of separation, and even teach you skills about conflict minimisation and productive communication with your ex!

There is a wide range of costs in family law matters, because the complexity and number of issues vary widely from case to case. Simple, amicable matters can be dealt with quickly and efficiently, keeping costs low – particularly if you and your ex have already agreed and just need a lawyer to draft up the legal documents. Complex matters with high conflict and drawn-out negotiations, requiring significant advice on complex issues of law, and matters that involve litigation, can range significantly in cost depending on your particular matter. At Romer Maud Family Lawyers, we will discuss costs with you in depth at the start of your matter, and as your matter progresses. We want costs to be an open and ongoing conversation. If you have concerns about costs, there are a number of fantastic legal funding options which you might be eligible for, particularly if your matter involves a property settlement. You can find out about these services here, and if you decide to work with us, and you want to pursue legal funding, we can help you with the application process and provide the lender with the required case assessment information. https://www.plenti.com.au/legal-finance/ https://www.justfund.com.au/

This depends on your particular goals and circumstances. We tailor a strategy to your specific values, goals and circumstances.

Some of the most common options are:

• Kitchen Table Discussions: Where you and your ex reach an agreement between yourselves, and have a lawyer draft the agreement for you in a legally binding way and in compliance with the law.
• Lawyer-assisted Negotiations: Where a lawyer will negotiate and advocate on your behalf to reach an agreement with your ex-partner, in relation to the issues in dispute.
• Mediation: Where both parties attend a mediation, with or without lawyers, to discuss the issues in dispute and reach an agreement. A lawyer can help draft up the resulting agreement, either on the day of mediation or afterwards.
• Collaborative Law: Where your lawyers, along with a team of collaborative professionals such as financial planners, psychologists and family consultants, work together with you to reach an agreement that meets the specific needs of your family, in an amicable manner, to support your specific goals and facilitate joint decision making and strength building.
• Litigation: Where you and your ex commence legal proceedings in Court, and have a Judge make orders about your family law matters.

Legally speaking, you’ll achieve a sound and binding legal outcome, and will receive settlement documents either in the form of Court Orders or a Binding Financial Agreement. The settlement documents set out the terms of the legal agreement reached.

But more than just the legal stuff, at Romer Maud Family Lawyers, we’re focussed on helping you achieve certainty and confidence in your future post-separation. We want you to feel clear, empowered, and ready for your fresh start at the end of this process.

Check out the client journey at Romer Maud Family Lawyers.