You, me and ‘we’: Is your business susceptible to being joined as a party to family law proceedings?
Business doesn’t always stay in the boardroom. Business partners not only form commercial relationships with each other but may also unwittingly form relationships with each other’s life (or one night) partners. If your business partner is going through a family law separation, you should be aware that you, or the business, may be joined as […]
Readmore(Not) Married at first sight: de facto relationships explored
In Australian society today, there is an increasing number of people living in what would be legally considered to be a de facto / domestic relationship known as a “de facto relationship”. Why is it important to determine? Many de facto relationships in Australia have the same legal rights as married couples. What is […]
ReadmoreBirth certificate reforms in Victoria
On the evening of 27 August 2019, the Victorian Parliament passed the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill. The amendment will allow adults and children to change the sex on their birth certificate without the requirement of gender reassignment surgery. It also provides for transgender people to self-nominate their preferred gender designation (male, female, […]
ReadmoreWoman wins the right to access her deceased husband’s sperm
A Queensland woman has won the right to access her deceased husband’s sperm following a recent decision by the Queensland Supreme Court. Mrs Gaffney and her husband had been married for five years when Mr Gaffney died in November 2018. The couple had an 18 month old son and had recently begun consulting a fertility […]
ReadmorePutting your relationship to bed before jumping into another
As the composition of the Australian family continues to evolve and the number of blended families continues to rise, individuals exiting one relationship and entering another should not underestimate the importance of first finalising their financial relationship with their former partners. For many people, the breakdown of a marriage or de facto relationship involves significant […]
ReadmoreWhen is it worth protecting the bank? When it’s the bank of Mum and Dad.
It is commonplace for parents to provide their children with money to fund weddings, house deposits, cars, business ventures and other purchases. However, when adult children separate from their spouses or de facto partners, the characterisation of that money as either a gift or a loan can be called into question, and money from the […]
ReadmoreLong overdue: review of Family Law System gets underway
The second stage of the Federal Government’s Family Law review commenced on 14 March 2018 with the release of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) Issues Paper. The release of the Issues Paper follows the announcement in September last year by then Attorney-General Senator George Brandis QC that the Federal Government planned to undertake a […]
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