November 30 2023
Does placing assets inside some kind of family trust mean that they can be ignored when seeking a property settlement during separation?
Many people believe that having significant assets held in a family trust will mean that those assets are not part of the property pool, and therefore will survive separation without being considered by the Court. But is that really the case?
A family trust is a common vehicle used to protect assets, gain flexibility with income and
A primary part of the separation process in Australia is the identification and distribution of the assets of the relationship.
With the increasing likelihood that cryptocurrency will form part of those assets, separating parties can face some unique challenges when it comes to dealing with crypto as part of a divorce. While Bitcoin is probably the most famous and popular, there are now millions of forms of crypto around the world, so there is an increasing likelihood of crypto coming up
In family law matters, both parents will typically have their own family lawyers to represent their interests.
However, when it comes to parenting matters in particular, the interests of the child (or children) of the relationship are of critical importance to any Court decision.
This leaves a problem – while both parents and their lawyers may well believe their view of the correct outcome is in the child’s best interests, they may also be putting forward quite different views about what
Many Court orders are “one and done” style orders.
That is, the parties comply with the orders, do the things required (pay the money, transfer the property) by those orders and then they’re done. From that point onwards, those Court orders have very little impact on the lives of the people involved.
Parenting orders are slightly different though.
As part of the separation process, spouses with children will ordinarily secure some kind of agreement or
Part of the marriage separation process in Australia is, or course, an analysis of what the fair and equitable split of property between the parties should be.
Allowing for reasonable concessions, both parties usually want to maximise how much of the available asset pool they might receive.
But, of course, assets are only one side of the ledger. So what happens in separation with debts that one or both parties might have? Do they get split between the parties? Does each party bear their own
A significant proportion of the family law system is devoted to the challenging task of identifying individuals who might be vulnerable or at risk of potential family violence. From there, many procedures and principles guide the Court, the Judges, the parties and those assisting and children through what can obviously be a time of significant stress and confusion.
That said, “family violence” can include a more significant list of behaviours than many might think.
In this article, we will
When it comes to the separation process, custody and parenting matters tend to be some of the most complicated.
It becomes even more challenging when there are allegations of family violence from one party against the other (or both).
There are, of course, some things that are clearly family violence and others that are clearly not. Sometimes, though, whether or not a particular behaviour or pattern of behaviours constituted something the Court should characterise as family violence is a bit
Marriage annulment in Australia is not particularly common. Although many people believe that their marriage needs to be annulled for one reason or another, it’s often the case that (from a legal standpoint) they need to go through the separation process or seek a divorce (or both).
To help you decide whether marriage annulment is for you, in this article, we will work through what an annulment of marriage is, how it differs from divorce or separation, and the requirements and process for
Commonly, spousal maintenance in Australia is a regular amount paid over time. However, in certain circumstances, you might be better off looking into lump sum spousal maintenance instead.
In this article, we’re going to take a look at the circumstances in which a lump sum spousal maintenance order might be preferable and address a few common questions along the way.
As the name suggests, lump sum spousal maintenance is a Court ordered payment where one
What happens if you or your ex-partner goes bankrupt before, during or after your separation?
Much of the separation process in Australia is dedicated to each of the separating people disclosing their property. That property is then distributed in a just and equitable way that is fair to both (having regard to all the circumstances).
Bankruptcy, however, is a process that’s designed to do much the same thing but is focused on the individual who is bankrupt and has a broader audience for the
Deciding whether to apply for spousal maintenance (or spousal support, as some people call it) is a reasonably regular decision to make as part of the separation process.
There are, however, a few situations where the Court will not likely give you orders for spousal maintenance.
In this article, we’ll talk about three situations when spousal support might be denied. However, we should stress that these are examples and not always decisive – you should get advice for your circumstances before
To some, the idea of spousal maintenance is that the wealthy former partner supports the other financially for the rest of their life – essentially a slightly odd type of pension plan.
However, that is not typically how it works.
Spousal maintenance generally has a limited lifespan and can come to an end in a number of different ways.
So if you are considering applying for a spousal maintenance order, let’s look at how long spousal maintenance can last.
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Accessible Family Law acknowledges the First Nations People paying respect to Elders past, present and future as the traditional custodians of this land. We live, learn and work on the lands of the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation. 