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How to ‘win’ your family law matter
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...
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Superannuation Changes in the Budget – an initial review
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...
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Music Superstar Prince dies without a Will – Do I need a Will?
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...
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Will my Family Business survive Divorce?
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...
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Baby ‘Gammy’ and International Surrogacy Agreements
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...
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How and why the Family Court ordered chemo
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...
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International Family Law and Parenting Issues
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...
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Diplomatic Immunity – a two edged sword?
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...
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Can I change my child’s name?
In this post, Family Law Solicitor Anna Neilan revisits her article What’s in a name discussing whether you can change your child’s name after separation. Quite often, separated parents may have a dispute about their child’s surname. Situations often occur when this becomes an issue. For example, if a child...
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Should you trade super for cash?
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...
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What happens to my Will if we separate?
What happens to my Will if we separate? – Ending a De Facto Relationship may change your Will The case of Blyth v Wilken [2015] WASC 486 was a landmark decision – the first of its kind in Australia that provided some guidance and commentary on the effects of the...
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Decision Making When You’re Going Through a Separation
Decision Making When You’re Going Through a Separation Guest Post for Farrar Gesini Dunn by Scott Malcom from Money Mechanics Confident decision making as you are going through a major life event can be difficult. With divorce emotions can be raw and the vision or plan for your life has...
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