Blog

‘Sex’ and ‘gender’…same thing, right? Wrong. These words have different semantic meanings which is important to understand. ‘Sex’ is about one’s biological makeup. That is, their chromosomes, gonads and genitalia. So penis = male, and vagina = female. So what about intersex people? ‘Gender’ on the other hand is often...

The Family Law Act focuses on protecting children from harm and the Attorney General’s Department has recently commissioned the Family Law DOORS framework (which stands for the “Detection of Overall Risk Screen”) to assist professionals, including family law specialists to detect risks to the safety and wellbeing of their clients...

The ATO has released a draft ruling that has the potential to reduce the amount that high-wealth individuals receive from property settlement by nearly half. For high-wealth families it is not uncommon for them to hold their assets in private companies and trusts for tax reasons and for asset protection....

The Marriage Equality Act 2013 (aka ACT’s same sex marriage law), drafted by the ACT Labor Government, has caused a stir! For now at least, same sex couples in the ACT can get married. The legislation provides an avenue for marriage for those who cannot be married under the Commonwealth’s...

The ever-present topic of gay marriage highlights some issues surrounding the rights of same-sex couples. What rights do same-sex couples have in family law? In a nutshell, the answer is that in Australia, the same laws apply to same-sex couples as to de facto heterosexual couples when it comes to...

By Ann Northcote, Director of Farrar Gesini Dunn. In this month’s blog post, we look at whether or not there ever was a relationship for the purposes of the Family Law Act, and in particular property settlement and maintenance. The English language is still yet to have the perfect words...

How many times has this happened to you; you’re at a party with people that you are meeting for the first time, or you are having a quiet after work drink and you meet someone new, or your new hairdresser is making polite conversation with you, or you are even...

Have you thought about a Prenuptial Agreement (aka Pre-Nups or Binding Financial Agreements (BFA’s))? The bad news is that the stats for marriage breakdowns in Australia are pretty high – one out of three marriages end in divorce. The rates of breakdown for de facto relationships are more like one...

With the greatest of respect to the honourable Judges of the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court, for almost everyone, going to Court for your family law matter is not a great experience. Costs wise, you may be looking at some or all of the following: filing fees lawyers fees...

Surrogacy agreements are becoming more common in today’s society where the definition of a family is becoming more diverse than just the “nuclear family”.  The law around surrogacy in Australia is complex and different laws apply in different states and territories. In the ACT, commercial surrogacy agreements (where you pay...

Separating from your partner is a stressful experience, and the process can be overwhelming, but it is important to get advice from the right people as soon as you can, to make sure you are protected. Once you have your team in place, you will be able to explore all...

Yes. That is the sound of a collective sigh of relief that can be heard around this time of year for many newly separated families. They have just navigated through the December/January school holiday period and of course the Christmas season. This means that short term issues have needed to...