Our expert Family Lawyers help our valued clients through relationship breakdown and divorce with clear legal advice and direct practical guidance.
If you have a tricky family law situation, or simply need advice about what to do next, our Family Law team can assist you and your family. Click here
My case needs a Judge! Our litigation services
Some cases require a decision by a Judge because the parties cannot reach an agreement. Barriers to reaching an agreement can include the factual issues in a case, novel or complex legal issues, or the personalities of the parties or one of them. Parents are encouraged to reach agreement about arrangements for their child, or children, and there are lots of community based resources to help parents arrive at agreed arrangements without having to go to Court. The Court also devotes resources to assisting parents reach agreement in parenting cases that come before the Court. There is a similar encouragement in financial cases for parties to reach an agreement about the financial issues between them, before a Judge has to determine the dispute.
Our firm is experienced in all types of parenting and financial disputes in Court, from the more straightforward parenting and property cases to highly complex parenting or property settlement cases. Our lawyers are experienced in initiating urgent parenting and financial applications, and in defending urgent parenting or financial applications. While we use our negotiation and dispute resolution skills to try and settle cases at all stages of the Court process, we pride ourselves on being excellent “black letter lawyers” so that we maximise our client’s probability of success if a Judge has to decide the case.
Our experience in parenting cases includes:
- Relocation cases (domestic and international)
- Matters involving a grandparent or other family member
- Gender dysphoria cases
- Contravention applications
- Contested child support issues
- Cases involving harm or risk of harm to children
Our experience in contested financial cases includes:
- Complex property settlements
- Urgent applications for injunctions to protect property (acting for applicants or respondents)
- Acting for third parties, for example, business partners
- Spousal maintenance claims
- Interim applications for sole occupation of the family home
- Running cases with the appointment of a Case Guardian
- International family law disputes involving a contest over jurisdiction
Litigation is very costly. Litigation in parenting cases is highly stressful and can expose children to their parents’ conflict. A decision from a Judge at the end of a parenting case can be the worst outcome because it memorialises the conflict in the family for the children’s lifetimes.
A benefit-cost analysis must operate in the litigation of financial cases. The discretionary nature of property settlement law under the Family Law Act, 1975 means that the result from a Judge is usually hard to predict with any high degree of confidence. While the usual rule under the Act is that each party pays their own legal costs, care must be taken because the Court can make an adverse costs order against a party if they are wholly unsuccessful in the case, and for other reasons defined in the Act.
Whether you need a strong advocate in a parenting matter or a financial case, we are equipped to prepare your best case, and to give you practical guidance and support as part of our litigation services.
