Case guardian in family court proceedings
A case guardian can be appointed where one party to family law proceedings lacks the mental or physical capacity to represent themselves. If you are worried that you cannot manage proceedings yourself, whether or not you are instructing a solicitor, you should consider whether appointment of a case guardian may be appropriate. A person who is a manager of the affairs of a party is taken to be appointed as case guardian of the party if the person has filed a Notice of Address for Service, filed an Affidavit which provides evidence that the person has been appointed manager of the affairs of the party and consents to the appointment ...
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Final parenting orders and their effect
Final parenting orders discharge all interim orders. Maybe you have obtained final parenting orders. If you later want to have some related parenting issue determined by the family court, you must make a fresh application to court. If the final parenting orders that you obtained fail to cover some issue that had been covered by an interim order that had been made before final orders were made, then you will need either to each agreement with your former partner about that issue or if agreement cannot be reached, make a fresh application to the family court seeking further final orders. You should be aware though that before the family court ...
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Assessing contributions in family law property settlement
Assessing contributions for property settlement is a significant element in working out what is an appropriate way to divide assets following separation. What is clear from the case law is that it is not appropriate in assessing contributions in family law property settlement to effectively cherry pick assets. What is generally considered in a long term relationship is the myriad of contributions made by both parties and the totality of assets. In the recent case of Jabour & Jabour [2019], the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia set aside the orders made by a primary judge who, in assessing contributions, had awarded the husband 66% of the net non-superannuation ...
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Forgive and forget
Forgive and forget! When your partner lets you down or disappoints you, whether you can do that - forgive and forget- not just the once but over and over can be a big indicator of whether your relationship can stand the test of time. This seems to be one message from relationship experts. It makes sense though we all understand that it is easier to forgive and forget the small things. The bigger tests for a couple arise when one partner may offend deeply held beliefs or values of the other person. As family lawyers, it is not uncommon for us to see situations where one person may long just ...
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Errors of law in family court
Where errors of law are made by a primary judge in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, a party may appeal the decision in the Family Court of Australia. Errors of law were found to have occurred in Mareet & Colbrooke [2019] on appeal to the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia. The Mother had been pregnant with the child when she moved from the Northern Territory where the Father worked to Queensland going via “Town F” in New South Wales where her family resided. The primary judge had made interim orders. They included that the Mother return with the child to New South Wale. She was required ...
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Text message as evidence in family court proceedings
Text message as evidence in family court and when they may be excluded A text message as evidence in family court proceedings is a common occurrence, whether in parenting proceedings or property settlement proceedings. They are generally admissible as evidence. However, they may not be used in evidence whereto do so would be in breach of the requirements of the Evidence Act 19995 (Cth). Section 131(1) of that Act provides that evidence is not to be adduced of: A text messages as evidence can be excluded then if they are evidence of such a communication or such a document. Once exception to this privilege applies where evidence that has been ...
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Family Court costs order and when offers count
A Family Court costs order may be made in a number of circumstances. The General rule is that costs orders are not made but that each party to proceedings under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (“FLA”) bears her or his own costs (section 117(1) FLA). However, where the Court considers that there are circumstances that justify it, the Court may make such order as to costs as the Court considers just (section 117(2) FLA). Factors that the Court must have regard to when considering what costs order, if any, should be made include “whether either party to the proceedings has made an offer in writing to the other party ...
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Bias of a judge and what you can do about it
Bias of a judge against a party is a serious concern where a party perceives that bias is at play. A party may perceive that there is bias, sometimes referred to as "apprehended bias", resulting from a trial judge's conduct throughout proceedings. It is fairly uncommon that bas in fact is shown to have existed in a court matter. If you are in court and have concerns about bias of a judge hearing your matter, you should ensure that you raise any complaint about, or concerns relating to, apprehended bias, with the trial judge. If you do not do that, your failure to then raise the concern may be seen ...
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Putting kids first – at Easter and every time!
Putting kids first is something that we as parents like to think is what we do. We bring our children into the world naturally wanting what is best for them. We make careful decisions, often after having done thorough research. We choose what school our children will attend, what suburb is best to live in offering them the best access to parks and bikeways and concerning a myriad of other things with putting our kids first being our foremost concern. We want to offer them the very best of opportunities and life experiences so that they may grow up happy and confident within themselves. For parents who are united, many ...
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Family Court Application & the Court’s Role
In family court applications, parties sometimes believe that the Court will make a decision based upon the application of the party that the Court prefers. It is important however to understand the role of the Court in reaching a final decision whether for parenting arrangements or property settlement. If you would like some practical legal advice regards the view the Court is like to take of your family court application, contact our experienced Family Lawyers Brisbane or our family lawyers Brisbane Northside. We can assist you in all areas of family law, including regards family law property settlement, maintenance claims and parenting arrangements. We will advise you regards likely outcomes ...
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