Blog

As a family lawyer one of the most common questions that I get asked by my clients is what their obligations are when their child or children do not want to spend time with the other parent when the parents have separated. This is particularly concerning for parents when there...

The High Court has said “lack of legal knowledge is a misfortune, not a privilege”. The Family Law Courts and the staff of those courts give people who represent themselves the maximum assistance they can, but the courts have an obligation to be impartial. There is only so much that...

It has been a very exciting start to the new year for me. Not just because it is summer (well, sort of summer), but, because after five great years at another law firm, I have now started working at Farrar Gesini Dunn in Melbourne. Here is a little bit of...

Elisa Turco from our office was recently interviewed by Kidspot and published in the Sydney Morning Herald. Separation or divorce doesn’t have to mean the end of a magical Christmas Day for your children. Keep things civil and stress-free this Christmas with our handy step-by-step guide.

Separation is not a topic you want to think about when you’re young and in love and starting your life with your significant other. However, it is a sad reality that sometimes things just don’t work out. Hearing a term such as ‘property settlement’ or ‘parenting order’, you may think...

Farrar Gesini Dunn and Certus Law have together built great new premises which will enable us to enjoy the benefits of being located on the same floor and remaining secure and independent from one another. We changed the way we work. Its called Activity Based Working (ABW) and there’s no...

If there’s one thing I learned as a family lawyer its this – every separation is different.  This applies both to what the end result of the separation looks like (ie. what do we both end up with at the end) and what the process of the separation looks like...

My colleagues will be surprised I’m writing about Gough Whitlam but as politicians go he’s pretty universally appreciated and one reason for that is the Family Law Act. 

Mediation is where a neutral third person assists people to reach agreement over an issue in dispute. The aims and procedures used by mediators vary. At its core mediation should be; consent based; voluntary; confidential. There are two main styles of mediation. They are ‘case settlement’ mediation and ‘interest based’...

Congratulations to our very own Jessica Kennedy – 2014 ACT Young Lawyer of the Year. To find out more about Jess, read the ACT Law Society Media Release regarding the 2014 ACT Young Lawyer of the Year, visit Jess’s profile, read her Thesis, or keep reading below… In 2013, Jess...

When families are together, children usually get to see their parents every day. It’s when families separate that the children end up feeling unsure about when they will next see the other parent who they don’t live with. It’s always best for separated parents to agree on the time the...

This is a question that is regularly asked in family law. “I married my wife with the understanding that we were going to live together happily ever after, but then she ran off with Julio. Can I get our marriage annulled?” First of all, you need to appreciate that we...