dividing property family lawyers Brisbane

Dividing Property on Separation

August 17, 2025/by Lezah Gildea-Marega

Dividing Property on Separation

Dividing property on separation is an important step for you to take. It is also something that, generally speaking, you should finalise as soon as possible.

Until you obtain a legally binding settlement dividing property, your former partner may continue to have a claim in your property. The extent of that claim, especially regards any assets you acquire following separation, is going to depend upon a number of factors.

Finalise your property division so that you can plan for yourself financially and get on with life!

A Guide to Dividing Property on Separation

Until you obtain a legally binding settlement dividing property, your former partner may continue to have a claim in your property. The extent of that claim, especially regards any assets you acquire following separation, is going to depend upon a number of factors.

Obtain a legally binding property settlement and go to sleep at night knowing that there is no real risk of a future claim by your former partner. You can do this by obtaining a final property court order or a binding financial agreement that complies with the requirements of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

You can apply to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia for issue of a consent order. A final property consent order is issued through the Registry without your ever having to see the inside of a court.

If you can’t reach agreement, you should attend a mediation where that is possible and appropriate. Make sure that you comply with pre-action procedures that are set out in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021. If that doesn’t result in agreement, then you may have to start an action in the family courts seeking final property orders for dividing property.

The pre-action procedures include providing your former partner with an offer for settlement which may lead to you obtaining a final order or binding financial agreement.

There is another important reason to obtain as soon as possible a legally binding property settlement by way of a court order (preferably for you, a consent order) or a binding financial agreement. Assets and liabilities that are considered in the division between you and your former partner are the assets and liabilities that exist at the time that you make the property settlement and not those that existed at the time of your separation.

Contact our family lawyers Brisbane for advice about any family law issue, whether to resolve property division with your former partner or parenting issues. Our experienced family lawyers can also assist you with domestic violence issues. We aim to assist you to reach agreement with your former partner without going to Court. If however court action is necessary, we are ready to represent you effectively at Court.

The information set out in this blog is not a substitute for legal advice. We recommend that you obtain advice tailored to your particular circumstances from LGM family lawyers Brisbane.

Varying Arrangements for Children

July 21, 2025/by Lezah Gildea-Marega

Varying arrangements for children which will suit both the parties and the children until the children are 18 years of age can be a very difficult exercise.

Doing this successfully relies upon parent’s knowledge of the children (and the other party!) and the experience of the lawyers and/or the Court.

While we make orders that deal with every changed circumstance we can think of, life can have other plans.

So what do you do if you find that the Orders that were so carefully crafted simply no longer work for you and the children?

How to vary arrangements for children

There are two ways to change a final Court Order for children. That is,

By returning to Court and formally making an application that you would like the Court to vary arrangements for children, or
By entering into a parenting plan.

Varying arrangements for children with a parenting plan

The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) says at section 64D that any court Order that is made for arrangements for children, is automatically subject to any parenting plan agreed by the parents after the Order is made.

This means that your final Order does not need to have anything at all that says that you can agree to a different arrangement to enable you to change the parenting arrangements by parenting plan.

There is, however, one circumstance when you cannot enter into a parenting plan varying arrangements for children.

That is, the court may, in exceptional circumstances, include in a parenting order a provision that the parenting order, or a specified provision of the parenting order, may only be varied by a subsequent order of the court (and not by a parenting plan).

When orders can’t be varied

The Court can specify in Orders for parenting arrangements that that one paragraph, or the Orders as a whole, are not able to be varied by a parenting plan.

Examples of when this might be done include where it is needed to protect a child from physical or psychological harm, abuse, neglect or family violence, or where there is substantial evidence that one parent is likely going to use coercion or duress to get the other parent to agree to varying arrangements for children by parenting plan.

While this gives parents a bit of flexibility to modify final court orders for parenting arrangements as the children grow and circumstances change, remember that parenting plans are not enforceable by the Court, where a Court Order is.

Always consider the effect that a parenting plan will have on your enforceable final Court Orders when varying arrangements for children.

For more information regarding parenting arrangements, see our page on child custody.

Contact our family lawyers Brisbane and our family lawyers Brisbane Northside for advice advice about varying arrangements for children. We are able to advise you concerning any area of family law. Our goal is to assist our clients to reach an amicable agreement with their former partner, whether concerning parenting arrangements for their children or family law property settlement. If however court action becomes necessary, we have the experience to represent you at Court.

The information set out in this blog is not a substitute for legal advice. We recommend that you obtain advice tailored to your particular circumstances from our Brisbane child custody lawyers or our child custody lawyers Brisbane Northside.

Parenting Arrangements at Christmas Post Separation

July 21, 2025/by Lezah Gildea-Marega

Parenting Arrangements at Christmas Post Separation. Christmas is a time for joy, love and sharing. If this is your first Christmas post-separation, here’s a few tips to ensure your parenting arrangements at Christmas allow you and your family a happy holiday season.

The Best Parenting Arrangements at Christmas Time Post Separation

To ensure the festive season remain a merry time for you and your kids, post-separation, we have compiled a list of tips to ensure smooth sailing.

Christmas pre-separation, its synonymous with excitement, happiness, and probably Santa. Christmas post-separation, brings a whole new category of synonyms. They don’t have to be negative, but without the right planning and discussions, it can end up being a time full of turmoil.

Time-sharing or alternate year arrangements?

There are multiple avenues to consider when discussing parenting arrangements at Christmas with your former partner for time with the children on Christmas Day. The most common arrangements are:-

A time-sharing arrangement. An example would be the children spend 9:00am on Christmas Eve to 12:00pm on Christmas Day with one parent and 12:00pm on Christmas Day to 5:00pm on Boxing Day with the other parent; or
An alternate year arrangement. An example would be that the children spend the entirety of Christmas Day with one parent in any year ending in an even number and with the other parent in all years ending in an odd number.

Both have their pros and cons. You need to work out what works best for you and for your children.

The knitty gritty…

Do you like to go away over Christmas?
Will a change of arrangements affect your Christmas traditions?
Do you live close to your former partner? Is travelling for a changeover on Christmas Day practical?
Do your children have daily routines/requirements that can’t be skipped on Christmas Day? Will this affect changeover times?

Creating the plan

First and foremost, consider how your children will cope with either of the arrangements.

Consider putting a proposal forward in writing to your former partner setting out exactly how parenting arrangements at Christmas could work and ask for your former partner’s opinion and requested changes on your proposal. Negotiate from there.

If you still can’t reach an agreement or if it is better for you to correspond through a lawyer, contact us and we will be happy to prepare a letter to your former partner setting out your proposal and settle an agreement.

Contact our child custody lawyers Brisbane and our child custody lawyers Brisbane Northside for advice concerning any area of family law, whether for parenting arrangements or for property division. We aim to assist our clients to reach agreement with their former partner without going to Court. If however court action is necessary, we have the experience to represent you at Court.

The information set out in this blog is not a substitute for legal advice. We recommend that you obtain advice tailored to your particular circumstances from LGM family lawyers Brisbane.