Know Your Deadlines – Property Division pursuant to the Family Law Act 1975

It is important to know that there are time limits on making applications under the family law for a property division. If you are unaware or not advised of these, there can be serious repercussions leaving you significantly worse off.

For defacto relationships, an application cannot be made under the Family Law Act 1975 more than 2 years after separation. For married couples, the time limit is 12 months after your divorce is made final. For this reason, many family lawyers will not encourage people to actually obtain their divorce until their property settlement is finalised or very near to being finalised.

 

While the deadline is clear cut for divorcing couples, the time limit on defacto relationship can cause more difficulties, particularly if there is a disagreement about precisely when your separation occurred. Parties will of course be more likely to recall a separation date in a way that is advantageous to them.

 

In the event that the deadline passes in either case, the Court may grant leave to a party to apply even if they are out of time, but you will need to explain to the Court the reason for the delay. The Court may grant leave to you to proceed out of time if it is satisfied that:

• Hardship would be caused to a party to the relevant relationship or a child if leave were not granted; or
• If applying for an order for spousal maintenance, that at the end of the limitation period, the circumstances of the person applying were that the person applying would not have been able to support themselves without an income tested pension, allowance or benefit.

The definition of hardship is a vigorously contested one. The Court will take a variety of factors into account when considering these issues, particularly what exactly is meant by ‘hardship’ but it is important to seek legal advice and act quickly if you are approaching or have just passed one of these deadlines.

Call us on 03 9614 711 or email Melbourne@nevettford.com.au.

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The Small Business Family Law Dilemma

Clients with small businesses often find themselves gobsmacked at the approach that the family law courts may take in relation to their business. A valuer will regularly be appointed at significant expense and that valuer will place an astronomical value on a business that the client has no ability to sell, leaving them with a fixed asset of paper-worth but little by way of realisable value.

 

The situation that may result is a difficult one for many small business owners to face – that they will be left with just their personal-services business whilst their former spouse will keep the whole of a house and a significant proportion of their superannuation to boot.

 

Clients on the other side of this equation will often not appreciate the precariousness of a valuation that may come falling apart, or indeed how a business owner might readily lower their business incomes dramatically to avoid a genuine valuation of the business occurring. Recent developments in the law regarding how ‘add-backs’ are considered mean that this becomes a particular risk for parties to family law disputes.

 

Not even considered in this situation yet is the impact such a valuation, or the forensic accounting exercise undertaken to get to a valuation, may have on the business partner(s) of a person undergoing a family law property division.

 

Judicious and early advice is the best answer to help you deal with the complex web of outcomes in such a situation, whether you operate the business or are the former spouse of such a person.

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Why Hire a Family Lawyer?

Why Hire a Family Lawyer?

Many people balk at the idea of hiring a family lawyer for a variety of reasons, including the cost of the exercise, and the feeling that they do not want to invite a stranger into the most intimate details of their lives. The Court has made services accessible to the public at large that helps to foster peoples’ easy and cost effective access to justice including:

• All Court forms being readily accessible online, with how-to guides for popular documents
• Providing ‘duty lawyer’ services at Court so that individuals can access basic advice even on their Court date
• Providing significant accommodation, time and patience to parties who are ‘self-representing’ when they are in front of a Judge

All a lawyer seems to do to most people is to manipulate words, and if you can speak, so the logic goes, you can be your own lawyer. There are fewer people who feel the same way however about accessing other professionals, and few are game enough to do their own plumbing or service their own car, despite the arguably ‘higher stakes’ involved in a bitter family law dispute. In short, investment in a lawyer for your family law matter has a significant number of advantages:

• Getting forms and documents ‘right’ the first time
• Knowing what is going to help, and what is going to hinder you
• Knowing from an early stage what the likely range of outcomes for your matter is going to be
• Accessing expert and experienced strategic advice in relation to your matter, and with the best law firms, expert advice on how various Judges, Courts, Registrars and Registries will react to certain issues
• Having an expert who is suitably objective to provide you with ‘reality testing’ at every step of the process

Hiring a lawyer does not have to be an all-or-nothing approach either; many law firms are now offering packaged work or strategic intervention, to assist you for example with finalising documents in preparation for trial, simply appearing for you and avoiding the cost of back-and-forth in letters, or reviewing your situation early so that you can negotiate an outcome directly with your former partner. We offer these types of services and encourage you to contact us to discuss your situation today.

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