If you are a grandparent and face the sad circumstance of a break up in your family group, through separation or unforeseen events, you may be worried about your right to continue seeing much-loved grandchildren. Unfortunately, some grandparents only see their grandchildren at crowded school events or from the sideline at sporting occasions. In Australia, […]

When starting a legal case, you must ‘serve’ the party against whom you are proceeding with the necessary documents. Service is an important first step in any legal matter to ensure the other party is provided the information relevant to the case, and an opportunity to respond. It is particularly important when the person served […]

Social media – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and the like – can be a lot of fun and have become an accepted part of modern life. Many of us use such forms of electronic communication to share the exciting, as well as the banal events in our lives, to express our views and to stay […]

Unlike married couples, de facto partners cannot apply for a divorce when their relationship breaks down. Their property affairs and arrangements for the future care of their children however may be finalised by agreement, with the assistance of their legal advisors or, if necessary through Family Court proceedings. Couples in a de facto relationship generally […]

RELOCATION Parties who separate generally reach an agreement about parenting arrangements for their children. However, some separating parents do find themselves disagreeing about certain issues pertaining to children. For instance, one of the parents may wish to relocate with the children which may make it impractical for the children to spend time with the other […]

When it comes to international child abduction prevention really is better than a cure, so if one parent wants to take their children overseas and those parents have separated how does that work?

There has been an upswing in media reportage of domestic violence. With domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty as the 2015 Australian of the year, domestic violence has never been so topical or newsworthy. The media seems to mostly shine its light on the physical side of domestic violence – the murders, the beatings, the actions […]

An intervention order is an order of the Court to protect the safety of a family member that has been a victim of family violence, to protect a child or to protect property. A victim of family violence may be able to obtain an intervention order in the Magistrates Court.