Family Law
The Courts have no power to resolve the emotions involved in the breakdown of a human relationship.
Know this and understand it.
Don’t expect that the Court has the power or the ability to solve your problems.
The solution is always in the hands of the parties involved and how they handle it. Of course, obtaining good legal advice is a key part of that.
I started my working life in 1966 in the Supreme Court in the Matrimonial Causes Office. I was 17 turning 18 and could not believe that there were that number of people getting married, let alone being divorced.
It was a very raw introduction to an area of law that I did not expect. In 1968 I moved to a firm in Sydney that undertook, in a specialist way, family law – as it then was.
Very quickly thereafter family law changed. The jurisdictions of each State Court were handed to the Commonwealth Government and the Family Court was established with jurisdiction in some Local Courts and Magistrates Courts. This was as a result of the introduction of the Family Law Act by the Australian Government in 1975.
Wide, and far reaching, changes were made in the Court systems. They are still evolving.
My advice to someone in this sad and difficult position is always guided by the following:
- Breakdown of relationship – an extremely sad and distressing situation for each party like a death involving grief. Usually, one party is ahead of the other in that process and has already made the decision. When the decision is made known to the other, the grief for that party is even more extreme because they have to then process and live through it.
- These
human emotions produce natural reactions which unfortunately for many of us mean that we want to hit out and hurt the other. Well meaning family members often become involved and offer all manner of advice, some of it not always helpful.
- Add to this today’s world of
social media
and you have people offering and or posting all sorts of material which rarely has any use or help at all to the parties involved.
- My advice so far as is possible
do not become involved in this type of behaviour. Don’t respond to what you see, minimise your reaction and to get good advice about your legal rights and what you should do.
- Can I get a divorce straightaway? No. You need to wait a year from the separation date.
- You can however deal with
property settlement and hopefully reach agreement as to property. To do this you are required to enter into a Mediation process (which can be informal) but with full disclosure to each other your financial circumstances. With the help of Mediators or solicitors you can reach an agreement which can be approved by the Court.
- Child support can be dealt with immediately. In some cases where parties are dependent upon a supporting parent pension they have no choice as the pension authorities insist that a child support assessment be made.
- Children. There is no property in children only a responsibility to look after them and to care for them properly. Serious consideration should be given as to how they are affected by people that they love breaking up. They need to know and love each parent even though they are separating.
- No parents need orders about their children, they simply need to agree on how they will be looked after, by whom and when.
- Circumstances of children will constantly change as they grow, and the parents need to adapt to that and change whatever arrangements have been in place to meet the new circumstances.
- There is no black and white or guidebook that says who should look after children, how often and when. It is a matter for the parents and the circumstances but mostly dictated by common sense. They need a stable base, a bed and a home in which they feel secure, and they need to be able to visit another home where they also feel secure.
How a separation plays out depends entirely upon the parties and how they react to that separation and how they deal with these very confronting issues.
Not easy but with experienced and considered advice you can get through it.
Morris Owen.
