Family Lawyers for all stages of your relationship delivering high quality services with integrity and care.

If you separate and you have assets, liabilities and superannuation (or parenting issues) it is worthwhile obtaining family law advice so that you understand how the Family Law Act applies to your situation and what options you have. Once you are armed with this advice you can then make an informed and educated decision as to how you want to proceed.

Most people who separate and want to formalise division of their assets engage a family lawyer to assist with making any agreement reached legally binding. Some people can manage to prepare consent orders without help from a lawyer, but we have found that many people who attempt this find the forms and court procedures difficult to navigate.

Within family law litigation many people choose to self represent for various reasons and you can certainly do this if you feel it best meets your needs. The court together with state Legal Aid agencies and Community Legal Centres work to provide self represented litigants with information where they can to assist. Our recommendation is that getting initial detailed advice will set you up to make good decisions for yourself and that includes whether you want to formalise any agreement, whether you want to engage a lawyer to help you or whether you want to act on your own behalf.

Disclosure in family law refers to the rules and requirements on parties to provide and exchange information that is relevant to their matter, this is often referred to as the “Duty of Disclosure”.

It requires parties to exchange documents like bank statements, tax returns, pay slips, credit card statements, superannuation statements, trust or business financial statements amongst other things. The duty to provide disclosure to the other party commences as soon as negotiations begin and continues until the matter resolves on a final basis. In reality this means that you could be providing bank statements and other documents for an extended period of time.

Disclosure ensures that all assets and liabilities are identified, that all income and expenses can be considered and that parties are properly informed so they can make decisions on settlement proposals. Disclosure is typically the very first step in family law, and will continue to be a constant throughout your matter.

If a party fails to comply with the Duty of Disclosure there are penalties the court can impose on the non disclosing party. The Duty of Disclosure also applies in parenting matters, this might require exchange of enrolment forms for school or activities, proof of payment of child support, provision of medical information and other documents.

In Australia “lawyer” is an umbrella term for a person who can practice law and includes “solicitors” and “barristers”. You will regularly see the term “lawyer” and “solicitor” used interchangeably to describe lawyers that work for or are engaged by people directly seeking legal help. These lawyers work in areas of practice such as family law and deal directly with their client, they draft documents, negotiate settlements and formalise agreements.

If a family law matter requires mediation or court proceedings the lawyer will typically engage a barrister to appear at certain court hearings and some mediations on behalf of the client. A barrister is not appointed by the client directly but by the lawyer for a specified purpose. A barrister is also a lawyer but they specialise in court work and complex advice.

If your matter is going to a mediation or certain court hearings your lawyer will often engage a barrister to appear so that the client gets the benefits of that specialist on that day. Some people explain the difference as your lawyer being your GP and your barrister being the specialist. Your barrister will communicate via your lawyer and often meet you just prior to your court hearing or mediation and following that event you may not have any further contact with them. You might also use different barristers at different court events. Barristers are an essential part of the family law process and offer specialised skills for the benefit of clients and lawyers.

Mediation is not only worthwhile in family law it is typically an essential step parties must take before they can issue court proceedings.

Mediation is a dispute resolution process where parties attend with an independent person (mediator) and attempt to reach agreement through negotiation. Mediation can occur before court proceedings are issued and regularly take place after court proceedings during the court process to give parties the best chance of negotiating an agreed outcome. Mediation is usually very cost effective for clients and provides them with real opportunities to consider settlement options and negotiate an agreement efficiently rather than waiting in the court system.

One of the great benefits of mediation is that typically all communication that occurs in the mediation is privileged, this means that parties can make offers at that time to try to reach agreement but those offers cannot be used as evidence in court at a later time. Mediation can cover all aspects of family law from property division to parenting arrangements and financial support. Lawyers and barristers often appear in mediation with their clients, but many people attend mediation without lawyers (after receiving legal advice on their range of entitlement) and are able to negotiate. Mediation is more therapeutic than litigation, it usually results in outcomes that parties are committed to and preserves relationships.

Prior to your first consultation we ask clients to provide information which includes age, health, incomes and living arrangements of the parties. We also ask questions about the length of the relationship, what assets and liabilities exist, what superannuation each party holds. We ask for information about children and for the client to consider whether there were any contributions to assets like gifts or inheritances.

It is really helpful when clients complete all requested information prior to the first consultation as this enables the lawyer to review this information prior and to spend the initial consultation providing as much advice as they can with the information they have.

At the first appointment the lawyer will discuss family violence and determine whether this is a relevant consideration, they will also discuss other referrals a client might need such as accountants, psychologists and mediators. We always encourage clients to use this initial appointment as an opportunity to consider how the lawyer intends to work with the client, it is essential that clients feel they can work well with their appointed lawyer, so using this time to gauge that is important.

Avoiding court is a huge benefit to parties, it saves relationships and resources. For some matters court is absolutely necessary but in many court can be avoided where parties negotiate with intention and comply with disclosure and other pre action requirements.

From a practical point of view, if avoiding court is your goal we recommend that you obtain legal advice early so that you understand the process of negotiations and likely settlement ranges. You should also engage with the process of disclosure efficiently and openly. Providing disclosure in a timely way complying with all requirements will enable the other party and their lawyer to assess the matter, provide advice and consider offers of settlement.

Many matters end up in court because disclosure is not forthcoming and goodwill between the parties erodes as a result. Engaging mediation services, once advice and disclosure have occurred, is another great way to avoid court. Mediation will guide parties through their concerns and hopefully reach a place where agreement is achieved. If court proceedings are initiated despite your best efforts to resolve your matter you will still have many opportunities during the court process to reach agreement and resolve your matter without the need for a trial or final hearing, in fact the vast majority of matters resolve by agreement without the need for a final hearing or trial.