Blog

The Family Law Act was changed a few years ago to allow couples who are in a de facto relationship to have the same rights as married couples with respect to financial matters such as property division and maintenance under the Family Law Act. Legally speaking, de facto couples who...

A couple of weeks ago I posted about trying to make sense of the fluctuating Court fees (see blog post below entitled The cost of divorce…what’s the deal with the fluctuating Court fees). When I last posted the Court fees had been hiked up; then dropped down; and then hiked...

We recently attended a training session entitled ‘Young children have a lot to tell us about themselves.’ This session focused on children and the ways in which they can communicate their views. This is particularly important when it comes to making arrangements for children after a separation. The training session,...

Director Ann Northcote revisits her article ‘Litigating the clever way’. Family law disputes often involve situations where one party needs a resolution more than the other. For example, if the wife has moved out of the former matrimonial home and she is now renting her own place, whereas the husband has...

The ACT Law Society have written to me telling me that this month sees the 40th anniversary of my admission to practice and of my holding a Practicing Certificate continuously for that period. This month also saw the 20th anniversary of the founding of Farrar Gesini Dunn. Apart from making...

I’m a family lawyer and to be honest I have a hard time understanding what is going on with the cost of divorce and changes to the Court fees. So I can’t imagine how the general population is meant to understand it. In the lead up to the new financial...

This year Farrar Gesini Dunn celebrates 20 years! FGD was founded in 1995 by partners Denis Farrar, Olivia Gesini and Jim Dunn and paralegal Ann Northcote (who is also now a partner). A lot has changed in 20 years, but what hasn’t changed is our commitment to our clients and...

Read a joke this morning. Joke was: Marriage is hard, man. Marriage is so hard that Nelson Mandela got a divorce. Nelson Mandela, dude spent 27 years getting tortured and beaten everyday of his life. 27 straight years. He gets out of jail, spends 6 months with his Wife and...

Recently Farrar Gesini Dunn sponsored a Law week event hosted by the Women’s Legal Centre which focussed on Domestic Violence. The keynote speaker was 2015 Australian of the Year Rosie Batty, whose son was tragically killed by his father. I have to admit, in my experience, this is true. If...

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...