Family Law

Our Family Law team consists of Judith Jordan, Anita Agostinelli and Luke Allan and we service all of Adelaide City and metro areas and Murray Bridge. For details of the team see Our People.

Our Family Law team offer a free 30 minute initial interview wherein we can discuss the nature of your legal problem and provide an estimate of cost of achieving a solution.

We tailor our services to your individual needs. Whether you require sensitive and practical negotiation or vigorous pursuit of your legal rights, we aim to provide solutions to any range of Family Law problems in a timely, courteous and cost effective manner.

Our areas of service include:-

• Divorce Proceedings
• Property Settlements
• Children's Issues
• De Facto/District Court Applications
• Spousal Maintenance & Child Support
• Pre-nuptial & Cohabitation Agreements
• Mediation

When family relationships become strained or marriage difficulties arise it is useful to obtain help from people who have special training and experience in helping find a solution to the problem.

On separation each spouse may need to make some fairly immediate decisions about practical things such as:

• separating emotionally from each other;
• where the children will live and who will take care of them;
• how you and your spouse will support yourselves and the children;
• what, how and when you will tell the children and family about the marriage breakdown and separation;
• who will pay outstanding bills or debts (Bankcard etc); who will stay in the house;
• how will the rent or mortgage be paid; what will happen to any joint accounts;
• what will happen to the house, furniture, car and other property.

Talking to a lawyer can help you pinpoint problems and may assist you to resolve differences. Andersons Family Law Team can assist you in any of the following areas:

Divorce

Divorce is the official recognition of the end of a marriage. The Family Law Act does not take into account what caused a marriage to break down, only that the marriage has broken down beyond repair. To establish this 'irretrievable breakdown' of a marriage, the Family Court only considers whether or not the wife and husband have parted and lived separate lives for at least one year. If they have, they may apply for a divorce.

It must be strongly emphasized that a divorce is the only legal dissolution of a marriage. It is not an automatic settlement of other issues such as where the children will reside, maintenance, or the division of the property of the marriage. These are all separate issues which, if they are disputed, must be dealt with separately by the court.

Residence, Contact and Parental Responsibilities

Residence

During marriage, parents have joint residence of their children. After separation they may go on sharing residence, or one of them may obtain an order in the Family Court for 'residence' of the children. This means simply that the children reside with that parent. By law, parents still have joint residence, unless an order is made by the Court.

Parental Responsibilities

Responsibility for day to day care, welfare and development means having the right to make decisions about the child's daily needs and requirements. Generally, the parent with whom the child resides has this responsibility. Responsibility for long term care, welfare and development means having responsibility for important decisions including health, education and religion of the children. During marriage and after separation and divorce, parents have joint responsibility for these issues unless the Court orders otherwise. They share equally in making important decisions about their children's future.

Contact

Contact is the time children spend with the parent they do not live with. Contact is part of a child's right to have a good relationship with both parents. However it is not always regarded as a parent's right to have contact with a child. A violent or abusive parent may not be granted contact with a child or children. Contact will only be maintained while it is in the child's best interests.

Mediation

Mediation is a primary dispute resolution method which is becoming more widely used in the Family Court. We can advise and assist you with the mediation procedures. Alternatively, we have qualified mediators and negotiators available to conduct sessions in our offices.

Spouse Maintenance and Child Support

There are two kinds of maintenance:

• maintenance for the spouse, and
• child support.

Spousal Maintenance

It is possible to apply for maintenance at any time during the marriage, or up to twelve months after divorce (Decree Absolute), depending on each party's respective financial needs and capacity to pay. Applications for "spousal maintenance" can only be made after if there are very special circumstances.

Child Support

Parents can apply for child support for their children at any time. Both parents are responsible, depending upon their means, for the children until they are 18, or later if they are studying full-time and are dependent. If people do not apply for maintenance for themselves, they can still apply for child support for the children. Even if people are working or remarried, they are still entitled to child support. How much child support is received will depend on the financial circumstances of the other parent.

Most child support claims are now assessed by the Child Support Agency upon application by the "residence parent'. However, we can advise people as to how the Agency formula is calculated and advise about Child Support Agreements and Appeal to the Child Support Review Board. In certain circumstances the Family Court has jurisdiction to make decisions about child maintenance.

Pre Nuptial & Cohabitation Agreements

It is now possible to reach agreement with your spouse/partner about how your property is to be divided if you separate, whether or not you are married. Prenuptial Agreements exclude the jurisdiction of the Family Law Act if you are married or intend to marry and Cohabitation Agreements can be used if you have been in a de facto relationship for 3 years or there are children from the relationship. These agreements are also binding and they exclude the jurisdiction of the De Facto Relationships Act.

By entering into either of these agreements it is possible to achieve a level of certainty regarding the distribution of assets should parties separate. It is essential to receive legal advice if the agreements are to be binding. It is also essential that all parties give full and proper disclosure of all assets and liabilities at the time of preparing the agreements for the agreement to be binding.

Property and Superannuation Claims

A wife and husband may agree on the division of property and superannuation between themselves. It is recommended that an agreement be formally approved by the Court for two reasons:-

• it avoids the possibility of future claims by either spouse; and
• Stamp Duty is exempt on any transfer of matrimonial property including house and motor vehicle.

If people cannot agree on the division of the matrimonial property the Family Court has legal power to protect and divide the property and resources of the marriage.

De Facto Claims

The De Facto Relationships Act applies to de facto relationships which have ended since 18 December 1996 where either party is resident in the State for the whole or a substantial part of the period of the relationship and the de facto relationship existed for at least 3 years or there is a child of the de facto relationship.

Under the Act the State Courts can make orders for the transfer of property from one de facto partner to the other, the sale of property and the division of the net proceeds between the de facto partners or the payment by one de facto partner of a lump sum to the other.