AI and NLP has the potential to be a game-changer in family law matters, providing clients with greater access to legal information and advice and helping lawyers streamline the legal process. However, it is important for clients and lawyers alike to approach AI with caution, recognising its limitations and potential risks.

Smartphones. They’re good for texting and taking selfies, but should you be using them to make secret recordings of your ex-partner?

The emergence of crypto technology has led to a new digitally driven, decentralised asset class that has caught the attention of both experienced and novel investors. As crypto-assets gain in popularity, the issue of identifying, valuing and dividing that property in the context of family law proceedings has become more important than ever.

The nuclear family has evolved over the years and now no longer comprises of just Mum, Dad and two kids. More and more we see blended families forming. In some situations one person may bear the financial burden for that whole family, including his or her non-biological child or children. But when these families then break down who bears the financial responsibility for the children?

If you have a family trust or other discretionary trust in your financial structure which owns, whether directly or indirectly, any residential land in NSW you should contact your tax accountant as soon as possible to assess whether any changes are required to your Trust Deed prior to 31 December 2020.

Arbitration has been an option for resolving family law disputes for a number of years now, but so far the uptake has been slow. Amidst the many changes to our lives and legal system during the COVID-19 pandemic was the introduction of the ‘National Arbitration List’ in the Family Court of Australia and Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

In times where adult children are living at home longer, it has become more common for them to borrow from the 'Bank of Mum and Dad' to get a foot in the door of the property market. But what happens when those adult children separate from their partner, and mum and dad want their money back?

The economic instability caused by the Covid-19 global pandemic is starting to impact Australian home values, especially those in capital cities. What happens when separating parties have already agreed on the sale of a property as part of a family law settlement? Does the changing financial landscape provide scope for parties to overturn previous agreements?

We’re sharing our expertise by providing answers to some of the most common questions about family law in the era of Covid-19.

For richer or poorer, ‘til death do us part. Sound familiar? You’ve probably heard it before at a friend’s wedding. But how many people really mean it?

Everyone seems to be collaborating in different spaces today. At Pearson Emerson we have been using a collaborative model to resolve family law disputes for a number of years. The process allows you the opportunity to move on to the next stage of your life ensuring your integrity and dignity remain intact.

We would like to share the Australia chapter that Pearson Emerson Family Lawyers has written for the International Comparative Legal Guide to: Family Law 2020.

The case has left open what level of parenting one will need to show before a sperm donor will be elevated to the status of a parent. At the same time the case gives reassurance to a donor like Robert that the other parent cannot unilaterally decide to take the child away from them at a whim; ensuring the best interests of the child remain overriding.

Family law is, more than any other area of law, concerned with the intricacies and the varied forms of human relationship. Yet the law, over and over again, has to cast these varied relationships into patterns which they sometimes fit very poorly.

Many a parent has said to a child from time to time "I am doing this for your own good even if you don't like it". An unusual recent case featured a judge saying the same thing to a litigant. 

The one constant in the life of any family lawyer for the past 40 years has been change of the law and, to the extent that the government pays any regard to the ALRC report, more change is likely.

One of the things our clients frequently ask is "how do I prove I'm telling the truth?"  In almost all family law issues that a judge has to decide, "proof" means evidence that demonstrates what our client needs to show on the balance of probability, that is, whether the fact in issue is more likely than not to be true.

It seems that every day somebody expresses an opinion about immigration, its benefits, its limitations, too much, not enough, wrong kind, right kind. However, as with other aspects of modern life, the movement of people in and out of countries creates international legal issues, one of the things for which Pearson Emerson Meyer is highly regarded and in which we specialise.