JMW Legal can provide assistance for a range of matters relating to family law and de facto relationships, including:
- Divorce & separation
- Parenting matters
- Division of property and assets (prenuptial agreements/binding financial agreements and post separation agreements)
- Domestic and family violence
- Mediation (the principal is a nationally accredited mediator)
On 1 March 2009, new Commonwealth laws for the division of property for people in de facto relationships commenced. A de facto relationship exists between 2 people of the same sex or 2 people of the opposite sex. The Family Court of Australia or the Federal Circuit Court can make orders for the division of property (regardless of whether it is owned jointly or separately), superannuation, and spousal maintenance. A de facto relationship is one that has existed for at least 2 years (not necessarily continuously) or where there is a child of the relationship or where one partner has made substantial contribution to property or as a homemaker that it would be unjust to not make a property order.
The domestic and family violence protection laws were updated on 30 May 2017 to implement the recommendations of the ‘Not Now, Not Ever” taskforce. These recommendations included extending the length of protection orders from 2 years to 5 years, enlarging the scope of police protection notices to include children and relatives of an aggrieved/victim, harsher penalties for breaches of orders and referrals by police to specialist service providers without consent.
For more information on family law, please contact us. Please also view FAQs page for general information.
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