Insights & News

PE Family Law PE Family Law

De Facto or No?

In a very recent case called Kristoff & Emerson a judge of the Federal Court decided whether or not two people had lived in a de facto relationship.

Read More
PE Family Law PE Family Law

The Dilemma of Loans & Financial Gifts in Family Law

A dilemma that often arises in family law is whether money paid by a parent to a child (to help with paying the deposit on a home for instance) will be considered a gift or a loan when the child's relationship breaks down and there is a financial dispute.

Read More
PE Family Law PE Family Law

De Facto Relationships – The Jurisdictional Fact

On 1 March 2009 couples previously without rights under the Family Law Act were finally afforded rights under the Act in line with those rights afforded to married couples. The de facto couple is defined in S4AA of the Act.

Read More
PE Family Law PE Family Law

Locked in Matrimony

Marriage is defined in the Marriage Act, for Australian Commonwealth Law, to mean the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others voluntarily entered into for life.

Read More
PE Family Law PE Family Law

Relocation - Best Interests of the Child?

Having children means, as any parent knows, some surrender of personal freedom by the parents. Parents negotiate their relationships as adults, and as parents, and make compromises.

Read More
PE Family Law PE Family Law

"Loading" for Violence

(Judge) "Did you assault your wife all throughout the 35 year relationship?"

"Not really"

Read More
PE Family Law PE Family Law

Hamming It Up

In Australia, divorce and its consequences such as property settlement are a matter of Federal law, uniform throughout Australia. In the USA, they vary state by state.

Read More
PE Family Law PE Family Law

(No) Special Treatment for the Elderly

The Full Court of the Family Court has recently rejected a request by great grandparents that the children's proceedings with respect to their great grandchildren be rushed through the Court, notwithstanding their ages of 94 and 91 years.

Read More
PE Family Law PE Family Law

Wrong Decision Wrong Reasons

Sometimes judges reach the right conclusions for the wrong reasons, and sometimes they reach the wrong conclusion for the wrong reasons. It seems rarer that judges reach the right decisions from wrong reasons.

Read More
PE Family Law PE Family Law

Introducing Fault in Marital Property Law

Since the introduction of the no-fault principle to divorces in Australia, some people have been left feeling that there should be ramifications for the misbehaviour of spouses during the course of their marriage, if not in grounds for divorce then in other ways.

Read More
PE Family Law PE Family Law

Same Sex but Different

A recent article has pointed to some very unusual consequences of the introduction in the UK of same sex marriage. The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 came into force on 13 March 2014.

Read More