Author: emfladmin

Child support stems from the fundamental principle that “each parent of a child has a duty to maintain their child.” Child Support Agreements After separation, parents, whether married or de facto, can reach an agreement regarding the type and level of child support that is paid from one parent (“the payer”) to the other (“the...

Abuse – in relation to a child, means (for the purposes of the Family Law Act 1975): An assault, including a sexual assault, of the child; or A person (the first person) involving the child in a sexual activity with the first person or another person in which the child is used, directly or indirectly, as a sexual object by the...

  Myth 1: “The Mother always gets the kids. In Australia, a parent does not have legal “custody” (or any legal rights) over their child. There is no legal presumption that a child must (or should) live with the Mother and spend every second weekend and half of the school holidays with the Father. Rather,...

By Gavin Lai – Senior Associate at Emerson Family Law The Attorney-General Senator George Brandis has introduced the Family Law Amendment (Financial Agreements and Other Measures) Bill 2015 (“the Bill”). The Bill, if and when passed, will be another significant development in Australian Family Law with proposed changes to the Family Law Act 1975 (“the...

Recent Changes to Domestic and Family Violence Law in Qld   The Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia has indicated that as of April 2015, the Child Dispute Services section in the Brisbane and Melbourne Registries of the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court of Australia will be trialing a new approach...

The Federal Government has announced the delivery of six family law services to South East Queensland commencing January 2015. The Centres will provide services to help separating families make child focused parenting arrangements both during and post separation. A list of the Centres is set out below: Family Relationship Centre Ipswich – Relationships Australia Queensland,...

Risks in Lodging a Caveat The dangers of lodging a caveat to protect a purported interest in property are illustrated by the decision of Forrest J in Auricchio & Auricchio [2014] FamCA 240. In applying Queensland State Law pursuant to the accrued federal jurisdiction of the Family Court, His Honour ordered that the wife forthwith...

For an interesting and recent discussion of the notion of “special contributions” see the Full Court decision of Hoffman & Hoffman [2014] FamCAFC 92. FM Brewster as he then was ordered an equal division of property in a pool of about $10m after the parties’ 36 year cohabitation. In so doing, His Honour declined to...