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Family Law FAQ : Who keeps the engagement ring after separation? The answer – it depends. Part 1 – Calling off the engagement without a marriage If a couple separates after getting engaged, but do not actually get married or otherwise qualify for property settlement under the Family Law Act,...

Young Children and Overnight Care As a family lawyer, I frequently see separated parents wanting to know what parenting arrangements should be put in place for their very young children. For the purpose of this blog, when I say very young, children, I mean children between the ages of 0...

Women need superannuation Let’s be honest, superannuation is definitely not the most attention-grabbing topic we can discuss. But here’s the thing. Unless you like eating baked beans in your retirement, superannuation is really ­important. The problem for women is that their careers can be characterized by a pattern of broken...

When we see people after they have separated, there are a range of different concerns people have.  Common ones include: How long will it take, How much will it cost, Will I have enough money to live, How much time will I have with my children. Often, and understandably, people...

The budget was handed down this week and for a change there have been some significant changes to superannuation. It may take us some time to get our head around the impact of the changes but on first glance: The annual cap on concessional contributions has been reduced from $30,000...

We have all heard about the perils of not having a Will in place when you die, but it still surprises me that even the very notable and wealthy die without even the most basic Will. Last week we heard of the death of music superstar Prince. This week, when...

If you run your own business, going through a divorce or separation can cause more than emotional damage, it can also damage your business or force you to sell. Whether your business is set up as a partnership, company, trust, or via some other arrangement, engaging an expert family lawyer...

A recent decision of the Family Court of Western Australia has re-ignited the debate about international surrogacy agreements. Usually Family Court judgments are anonymised and cannot be reported on in the media, but in this case, the Judge made an exception. Remember Baby Grammy (yes, it is ‘Grammy’ and not...

My child has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. As his parents, we get to make all decisions about his health… right? You may have read the recent news articles about the 6 year old boy, Oshin, in Western Australia who is terminally ill with cancer. After consideration of his...

Cases such as the ‘Italian 4 Sisters Case’ and most recently the ’60 Minutes Lebanon kidnapping’ case bring international family law parenting disputes into the spot light. The Italian 4 sisters case revolved around whether 4 sisters should return to live in Italy with their father or remain living in...

In the Canberra Times on 11 and 12 April 2016 there have been articles critical of diplomats for committing traffic offenses (speeding and DUI) but refusing to submit to the criminal jurisdiction. According to the newspaper reports they won’t even pay their parking fines. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations...

Family Law Property Settlements – Should you trade super for cash? Superannuation is property and can be split from one person to another as part of a property settlement. Statistics tell us that women have less superannuation than men. This inevitably means that as part of a heterosexual property settlement...