Am I in a de facto relationship?

by Arlene Stanovitch This is a question we are often asked by clients and in today’s society the answer is not always straightforward. Section 4AA of the Family Law Act defines a de facto relationship as one where the persons are not married to each other, not related and where, having regard to all the circumstances of their relationship, they have a relationship
Tags: De Facto Property, De Facto Relationship, Family Court, Family Law Act, Federal Circuit Court, Property, property proceedings, property settlement, Time limits
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Valuation Disputes

by Arlene Stanovitch One of the first steps in determining how property  should be divided is to identify and value the assets of the parties. Preferably parties are able to agree on the value of assets and no formal valuations are required. When parties cannot agree on a value then the Family Law Rules 2004 set out the procedure for appointing a single
Tags: Family Court, Family Law Act, Federal Circuit Court, Matrimonial Property, Property, property settlement, Single Expert, valuation disputes
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Rules of the Court cannot be instruments of injustice

by Myles Walker In the case of Whooten v Frost [2017] FamCA 975, the Court was asked to consider whether it had jurisdiction to determine the Wife’s application for property Orders in circumstances where:-   The Wife’s application was filed electronically at 7.40pm after the Court Registry had closed; Having suffered a serious farming accident, the Husband died only hours after the application
Tags: Court Rules, Deceased estate, Family Court, Family Law Act, Injustice, property settlement, Time limits
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Calculating time in family law matters

by Amy Chesnutt Ensuring compliance with Court Orders can be a tricky beast if you do not know what you are doing.  Usually, there are consequences contemplated in the Orders if a party fails to comply with an action by a particular date/time.  A crucial, but often overlooked, part of all family law proceedings is correctly calculating the time by which actions provided
Tags: Consent Order, Court Procedure, De Facto Property, Enforcement, Family Court, Family Law, Family Law Act, Federal Circuit Court, Implementation, Marriage, Matrimonial Property, Property, Separation
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Thorne v Kennedy - is your Financial Agreement vulnerable?

by Arlene Stanovitch The recent High Court decision in Thorne v Kennedy [2017] HCA 49 provides practitioners with a summary of the law regarding duress, undue influence and unconscionable conduct in relation to the preparation of financial agreements. Husband and Wife met online in 2006. He was 67 and she was 36. The Wife was living in the Middle East and the Husband
Tags: Binding Financial Agreement, Case Law Update, Family Court, Family Law, Family Law Act, Implementation, Marriage, Matrimonial Property, Separation
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Separation on overseas holiday! What happens? Hague Child Abduction Convention

by Crispian Carlowe Many children in Australia have parents that were born in a foreign country. It is common for these families to travel to the home country with the children for holidays or for the parents together with their children to move overseas for an extended stay. What happens if a separation occurs while the family is outside Australia and one parent
Tags: Australian Central Authority, Case Law Update, Child Abduction, children, Children Removed from Australia, Evidence, Extended Overseas Stay, Family Court, Family Law Act, Family Law Watchlist, Federal Circuit Court, Habitual Residence, Hague Convention, International Relocation, Parenting, Permanent Residence in Australia, Separation On Overseas Holiday, Travel or Relocate Overseas
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Great Scott! Can the Court order a property settlement after 30 years of separation?

by Amy Chesnutt It is not often that the tabloid newspapers report on family law matters, particularly matters at first instance, however the recent Federal Circuit Court of Australia judgment of Scott & Scott [2016] FCCA 1659 was featured in the Daily Mail Australia on 13 July 2016. While not a landmark decision, the Scott case is a timely reminder that disputes about ownership of
Tags: Case Law Update, Contributions, Family Law Act, Federal Circuit Court, Marriage, Matrimonial Property
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Budget, Super Reforms and Family Law

by Arlene Stanovitch The 2016/17 Federal Budget has made significant changes to superannuation, arguably the largest changes since the 2006/07 Budget. Some of the proposed changes may have a big impact on Family Law and the structure and form of property distribution in separating families. So what are the changes? A Lifetime Non-Concessional Contributions Cap Currently you can make non-concessional contributions to super
Tags: Family Court, Family Law Act, Federal Circuit Court, Superannuation
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To vaccinate or not – let's look at Arranzio & Moss [2015] Fam CA 544

by Crispian Carlowe The issue of vaccinating children is a hot topic currently particularly given the impact it now has on Government benefits. The Family Court of Australia in the matter of Arranzio & Moss [2015] Fam CA 544 touched on the issue. This was a parenting dispute in relation to a 6 year old boy. The parties had diametrically opposed parenting approaches. 
Tags: Case Law Update, children, Evidence, Family Court, Family Law Act, Federal Circuit Court, Parenting
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Kern & Kern [2014] FCCA 1108 (30 May 2014) – Undervalued gift of real estate? Wife, her Father and his company referred to Office of State Revenue for Investigation

by Crispian Carlowe This case is an example of where the interests of the State Revenue Office can be raised. The parties were married for 9 years and a major issue was whether substantial gifts from the wife’s family were to her alone or to the husband and the wife.  The wife argued that her contributions to the marriage were greater than that
Tags: Case Law Update, Contributions, Crime, Evidence, Family Law Act, Federal Circuit Court, Fraud, OSR, Practical Tips
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