On 6 May 2024, a number of major changes will be introduced in Australia that will dramatically affect family law. These changes mark a significant ‘overhaul’ of the family law system and will have wide-ranging implications for all those who are involved with it.

Many people find it difficult to understand the difference between time parents spend with the children and parental responsibility. The presumption of shared parental responsibility in the current family law regime caused confusion and conflict between many parents.

A blended family matter on Sydney’s Northern Beaches

Family law matters can be complicated and emotionally challenging, and for Michelle (name changed for privacy), her journey began as no exception.

Michelle had initially been married with two children. After that relationship ended, the pair shared custody of the kids as she began a relationship and soon married a new man. With two kids of his own, together they lived as a blended family in a home they bought on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

Dying intestate in Australia is generally a bad idea, both from the point of having no control over the distribution of your estate and because there is no Federal legislation governing intestacy; how it is handled will vary state to state. It’s important for people of all ages to create a will so they can dictate what happens to their assets and make it simpler for their families to navigate and handle their estate.

Earlier this week the Attorney General released a draft of the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023. The Bill is an ambitious overhaul of several key sections of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 (Cth), that aims to improve the current Family Law System

Testamentary trusts are one of the more obscure branches of estate planning and, at first glance, appear to be very complex and only appropriate for niche situations. In truth, testamentary trusts are far less daunting than they first appear and offer a multitude of benefits for your beneficiaries, while also allowing you more control over your estate than a run of the mill will would allow. 

The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Coercive Control) Bill 2022 (NSW) passed parliament on Wed 16 Nov 2022. It creates a dedicated offence for coercive control under the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW).

In today’s modern age of smartphones, smartwatches and other electronic devices, recording audio and video in real-time is ever easier. The cost of installing recording devices in the home and business premises has also gone down. Given the prominence of such devices in our daily lives, questions about privacy and limitation of their use comes into question. For example, can we record private conversations? Can we use them as evidence in a dispute?

In May 2022, the FWC completed their four yearly review of the modern awards, including consideration of whether modern awards should be varied to include paid FDV leave. As part of its review the FWC made significant findings in relation to FDV:

When you think of domestic violence, the first thing that comes to mind is most likely physical or verbal abuse. However, domestic violence includes a wide variety of acts and behaviours, many of which you may not be aware of. One example of this is coercive control.

Matters involving relocation are often considered some of the toughest family law disputes for the parties and for judges to decide. The outcome of these cases usually means there is a clear “winner” and “loser.” The process can be lengthy, expensive and carry a significant emotional toll for everyone.

Generally, a de facto relationship boils down to you and your partner having a relationship, living as a couple for two years but not being married. However, when a de facto relationship ends has always been somewhat unclear.

Since 2018 the National Employment Standards (“NES”) have made a provision for 5 days unpaid domestic violence leave as a minimum entitlement for all federal system employees, which is most people.

Domestic violence leave allows employees to take leave if they need to deal with family violence and/or domestic violence and it is not practical for them to do so outside of their ordinary hours of work. The employee could take the leave to go to court, communicate with the police or take steps to ensure their safety or the safety of their family.

A large proportion of family law matters deal with children after the breakdown of a relationship. This leads many parents to ask: ‘What are my rights are as a parent?’

What is a Power of Attorney?

There are two main types of power of attorney:

• a general power of attorney ends when you lose the capacity to make your own decisions

• an enduring power of attorney continues even after you lose the capacity to make your own decisions.

Generally, the rule in Family Law proceedings is that each party to the proceedings shall bear their own costs. However, the Court can depart from this rule and order that one party pay some (or even all) of the other party’s legal costs, if the circumstances justify it.

If there are no Court Orders in place, and the parents don’t get along well enough to work out an informal solution together, problems may arise. Some parents simply decide to keep the children over Christmas, regardless of what the other parent wants – after all, who is going to stop them from spending time with their own children?

Over the last few weeks, we have received an influx of phone calls from concerned parents, about the possibility of their children being vaccinated against COVID-19. These parents fall on either side of the issue – some are eager to have their children immunised as soon as possible, while some are concerned about potential adverse effects and want to make sure their children aren’t put at risk.

Anyone who has had a matter in family law will usually say that the Family Law System needs to be changed. It is, and will be the biggest change in the Australian Family Law system since 1975.

De facto, or ‘common law’ marriage, is where a couple are not officially married, but have been living together on a ‘genuine domestic basis.’ If a de facto couple splits up, the Court may treat them the same as a married couple going through a divorce.