Category: Family Law

Why And How Family Reports Are Produced

Posted on by Legal Crossroad

Whilst it is true that over 80% of all divorces and disputes that fall under the umbrella of family law are settled amicably, often with the help of family lawyers, it is also the case that some result in an acrimonious court battle. This is especially true when the dispute relates to the couple’s children and matters such as who they will live with and visitation.

Sadly too many parents think that by using the children as a kind of legal bargaining chip they will be able to make a stronger case. Hopefully, they will soon realise that the Family Court is not a casino, and it will ensure that children’s best interests are served as a priority over any demands either parent may make.

To ensure that the principle of ensuring that the child’s best interests are served as per the Family Law Act of 1975, the court will want to have as much information as possible relating to all the matters which it has to decide upon. In order to have this information in a format that encompasses everything which is relevant, it may order that a family report be produced.

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Do You Really Need A Lawyer To Get Divorced?

Posted on by Legal Crossroad

When an individual’s marriage is seemingly at an end, and divorce would appear to be the next logical step, the automatic assumption is that they should contact a family lawyer to represent them, presumably in light of the fact that their ex-partner has also employed a lawyer.

This often begs the question as to whether you need to have a lawyer in order to get divorced. At the risk of us appearing to want to reduce the number of clients, we might have in the future, our answer if we were ever asked that question would simply be,  legally, you do not need a lawyer to get divorced.

Before we go any further though, it is vital for us to place a huge caveat against that answer and move to a secondary question which is ‘Should you try to get divorced without a lawyer?’, and our answer to that is an emphatic, ‘No, you should not’.

By way of explanation let us look at some facts around divorce and the specific law that applies to it. That law is the Family Law Act of 1975, and it covers not only divorce, but also de facto relationships ending, and many of the legalities that surround how the welfare of children is maintained when their parents divorce or separate.

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What Will Happen To My Pets If I Get Divorced?

Posted on by Legal Crossroad

Most divorces or separations are complicated, even if the couple split on good terms. Choosing who children get to live with, who gets what property and if either partner has to pay child support can be difficult. However, one of the hardest things for couples who don’t have children is often deciding what happens to their pets.

Luckily, there are precedents that can help you decide which partner gets to keep the pet. However, these decisions aren’t always easy to make. If you and your former partner both want to keep the dog, you may need to employ the services of an experienced family lawyer such as Accelerate Family Law who can help you settle the dispute in the courts.

Pets Are Seen As Property

As much as you love your pets and probably think of them like children, Australian law unfortunately doesn’t see things the same way. Under Australia law, pet’s are seen as property in the family courts, which means that they will be included in any property settlement disputes, as your family law advisers will tell you.

This also means that, unlike for children and dependents, separated couples won’t be awarded ‘share care’ of their pets. If you go through the courts, one partner will be awarded full custody. The only way to have some sort of share care arrangement would be to sort it out informally and amicably. However, if you decide to do this, you should consider whether the arrangement is in the pet’s best interest.

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Text Messages in Divorce – Collecting and Using as Evidence

Posted on by Legal Crossroad

In the virtual world in which we live important information can exist on a variety of electronic devices.  We use smartphones, tablets, PC’s and even smart watches.  According to Lawyers Perth, all of these locations could contain important information and even evidence in a divorce proceeding.

What kind of device you need to search and from which you should retrieve information depends very much on the type of divorce you may be handling.  Collecting evidence from electronic devices can be expensive and time consuming, so the first step is to identify exactly what you want.

Here are some examples of narrowing your search:  if you are trying to prove allegations of certain conduct (e.g. adultery) you might start with emails and text messages.  These can be found on electronic devices but also can easily be accessed on-line.  Text messages are more difficult because they typically exist only on smart devices.  Since 2010 cell phones were required to provide “location information” to assist with emergency services so ou might also consider retrieving the geo-location information from smart devices.  This can help prove the other party was in a certain location at a certain time.  For example, perhaps a wife was at a known location for drug dealing instead of at a child’s soccer game.

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