Blog

Most people probably think that a family lawyer is a family lawyer – and you just have to find one (and preferably a cheap one) if you are separating from your partner. But finding a family lawyer is one of the most important decisions you will make at the time...

As a new recruit to the Farrar Gesini Dunn Melbourne office, I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the different cultures in law firms and the way they operate. Lots of questions spring to mind. What type of culture am I drawn to and what type turns me off? Why...

The best way for two people who have separated to resolve their dispute is to do it together. There is no doubt about that. An important part of our role is to help people to do that. Usually this is more than just giving them advice about possible outcomes and...

Some common phrases we hear from people seeking family law advice include: “I had the house before we married, so that’s not included”; Or “but I got that as an inheritance from my grandmother, so that should be left out”; Or “I bought the lotto ticket from the newsagent, so...

“Clandestine”, “surreptitious”, “deliberate deception”, “blatant cunning and deceit” says Judge to describe the actions of a Mother who relocated with her three year old daughter from the New South Wales region to Tasmania, without telling either the Court or the Father. In 2012, a Mother relocated with her daughter, 3...

‘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...

You’re probably thinking “how on earth are family law and Facebook related?” Well, as I’m sure you’ve seen, when a relationship is strained (as it inevitably is in family law proceedings), it is not uncommon for the parties to publicly air their dirty laundry on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. At...

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...