What we do

Our Services

Pre-Separation Advice and Family Law

Pre-separation is essential for anyone who is thinking about leaving their marriage or de facto relationship – contact us if you’re about to make a decision.

Receive clear legal guidance, and specific legal advice for your individual circumstance – everyone’s situation is unique.

The best decision you can make for yourself, and you family is to be well-prepared and informed – pre-separation advice leaves you reassured.

Divorce & Separation

The most precious part of a relationship is the people most in need of protection. Our family law solicitors are experts in drafting workable parenting orders, agreements and where necessary recovering children from other locations and then providing for them in financially astute child support agreements.

Our approach saves you significant time, stress and expense when compared with contested (court-based) outcomes, which are last resort for us.

De Facto Relationships

At least three different possible regimes govern the financial aspects of separation of people who are not married but who are in a marriage-like relationship. Working out which applies to your relationship is important. For many de facto relationships in NSW, issues such as property settlement and spouse maintenance are treated the same as if you were married. Recent reforms by most Australian states have empowered the Federal Government to amend the Family Law Act to cover de facto relationships. The amendments also cover same sex de facto relationships. To fall within the new regime, you must have separated after 1 March 2009. People who don’t fall within the new regime will need to have regard to either the Property (Relationships) Act of New South Wales or the Law of Equity.

Same Sex Relationships

We proudly assist LGBTQIA+ families for all their family law needs.

Every relationship is different. That said, same sex and LGBTQIA+ unions face some extra challenges, especially around legal parentage. When a same sex marriage or same sex de facto relationship breaks down, those issues might suddenly loom larger than we realise.

Our empathetic team of family lawyers have helped many gay, lesbian and LGBTQIA+ families navigate family law. We understand diversity and equality, it’s a fundamental and natural part of who we are.

We’ll always work with you to find common ground and a path forward so everyone involved can live their best lives after relationships have ended.

Parenting Arrangements & Child Support

It is not easy to look out for your children’s future when you are in the midst of trying to secure your own future without the support of a life partner for the first time.

Decisions about the amount of time children spend with each parent may seem the hardest of all, given the mass of issues that arise.

Child Support

The intention in Australia is for matters relating to child support to be dealt with by parents directly with the Child Support Agency, without assistance from a lawyer.

In many cases, the Child Support Agency and the legislation that established it achieves this intention.

However, the system is not perfect and, even within the relevant legislation, there are mechanisms that recognise that some cases are different and need special attention.

Spouse Maintenance

In Australia, spousal maintenance is the responsibility of one party to financially support the other party following the breakdown of their relationship. Spousal maintenance can be applicable following the breakdown of a marriage or the breakdown of a de facto relationship.

Spousal maintenance is separate from property settlement and separate from child support. A party can be liable to pay spousal maintenance for the benefit of their former spouse in addition to child support, which is for the benefit of their children.

Property Settlement (Divorce Settlement) in Family Law

Separated couples can reach a property settlement inside or outside of court depending on the circumstances.

Outside of the court room property can be divided in any number of different ways. If a couple can come to an agreement about their property adjustment after separation, your solicitor can then help you to draft up the agreement into consent orders. Once lodged with the court this agreement is as legally binding as a court order.

Negotiation

The most simple resolution may be achieved via a ‘straight negotiation’. That is, either directly with your partner or with the assistance of lawyers in close proximity, you may come to an agreement about financial and parenting arrangements and we can assist in drafting the required settlement documents.

Alternatively, upon fulfilling the disclosure process (information seeking) and in consultation with you about your options, we negotiate on your behalf with your former partner’s lawyer.

This process can be swift or take time, depending on the complexity of your matter. In the event the negotiations do not reach a resolution you may need to proceed through one of the other pathways below.

Collaborative Practice

Collaboration is a process used to resolve family law disputes. It works for tough cases as well as those that appear easy.

It starts by you and your ex each agreeing not to go to Court. If the Collaborative Process fails (and the stats tell us that this very rarely happens) both lawyers and any other professionals must withdraw. You can still go to Court if that happens.

Mediation

Mediation is a dispute resolution process where a mediator (an independent third party specially trained in helping two parties reach an agreement) facilitates communication between you and your former partner in the hope of reaching an agreement.

During a family law mediation you and your former partner and your legal representation will discuss both parties’ wishes and try to come to an agreement that suits both parties and any children involved.

Arbitration

Arbitration is a dispute resolution process that is specific to financial disputes. Although it is an alternative to Court, arbitration is very similar except that it is in a private hearing setting and there is no Judge. Instead, both parties agree to an independent Arbitrator of their choice.

Litigation

There are some matters where litigation is necessary or cannot be avoided. Litigation is a pathway that some people find themselves on reluctantly, whether due to the attitude of a party or the complexity of the matter.

Sometimes it is necessary to litigate because of a particular issue or point of law, or because all the other pathways have failed.