The State and Federal Governments provide effective and efficient legal strategies for assisting families to resolve issues when a family works through the process of final separations.
This process is understandably difficult for all parties.
Helpfully, the process has been made as simple as possible:
1 Children’s matters: agree on a parenting plan. If either parent is scared that their rights could be infringed upon, they should have the parenting plan legally enforced by applying to the Family Court for Family Court imposed Parenting Orders. You can do this by yourself or pay a lawyer to do the work for you.
2 Property matters: agree on a just and equitable property settlement for both parties. For legal peace of mind and legal protection, you should have the property settlement finalised by the Family Court.
If you do not have Family Court orders for final property settlement, the other party can object forever. Without Family Court orders, you leave yourself open to ongoing litigation for untold years later, which can include claims from a deceased estate; in particular issues, when a will distribution could be contested.s
3 Divorce matters: if you have no children, Family Court property settlement is the correct course of legal conduct. If you have children, the Family Court requires confirmation that all children under 18 have adequate care – this is a legal condition of a divorce application.
Issues:
Prenup: No, no Binding Financial Agreement is guaranteed. The Family Court has absolute authority, to exercise its discretion, to make any award it considers is just and equitable.
For clarity, anyone can have a most legally obtained prenup. It doesn’t matter. A prenup is not worth anything in the context of a Family Court decision.
The Family Court has statutory authority, to decide family matters, at its discretion.
Both children’s and property matters.
Children’s matters: The Family Court must consider the best interests of the child first and safety parameters.
Property matters: The Family Court must decide matters in a manner that is just and equitable for both parties – a prenup holds no substantive value to the Family Court. If a prenup is drafted adversely to a party’s interests, the Family Court is legally obligated to, not only consider but to take steps to prospectively rule against any party abusing the rights of the other.
