Family Lawyers Townsville

The process for getting a divorce involves first speaking with a lawyer to file an Application for Divorce with the Court. Your lawyer will discuss everything you need to know before progressing with your decision. To convince the Court that the marriage has irreversibly broken down, you must have been separated for at least 12 months and one day. A court can only order a divorce if it is satisfied that suitable provisions have been made for any children under the age of 18.

Before making an application for a property settlement, family law courts expect applicants to make a genuine effort to resolve their dispute. To do a property settlement, you need to engage a lawyer to negotiate a binding deal in Consent Orders. The process involves negotiating the split of the property pool, drafting up binding Consent Orders, then obtaining a court decree of consent.

You can typically expect to pay between $300 to $600 an hour. However, you can expect that the more difficult the case and the more experienced the lawyer, the higher the fee.

The timeframes involved in negotiating a binding property settlement depends on each case but range from a few months to a year or more. There are strict timeframes in family law, so it’s important to get legal advice as soon as possible. For example, there is normally a 2 year deadline from the date of separation for de facto couples, and 1 year deadline from the date of your divorce for married couples, following which you are time-barred from applying to the court for a property settlement.

Usually no, but there may be a valid reason. If your ex-partner is preventing you from seeing your child, one of the most legally effective options is to engage a lawyer urgently for advice on the options such as urgent correspondence and a recovery order in Family Court. If you apply for a recovery order soon after you’ve been refused access to your child, you’ll have a better chance of succeeding. It is critical to get early legal advice.

The process of acquiring an enforceable agreement in place for kids is to engage a lawyer who can negotiate a deal in your best interests and then put that deal into binding Consent Orders. A binding enforceable agreement often takes the ongoing drama out of coparenting and is highly advisable in a lot of situations.

Normally you cannot relocate with a child without permission, but in some circumstances you can. You should always engage a lawyer before doing so or a Recovery Order will likely be granted.

Unless there’s a strong reason why the court shouldn’t grant the divorce in a one month period, the divorce decree normally becomes final one month and one day after it’s issued. The actual divorce date is when the divorce order becomes final. In rare circumstances, the court may mandate a shorter time between the two steps.

If you can’t sort it out or need court orders then it is generally advisable to go to Family Court. Court is a powerful option and in some cases is highly recommended. If you wish to pursue a divorce, formalise a parenting or financial agreement (known as ‘consent orders,’) or the situation is urgent, you’ll need to go to Court.

Family lawyers are legal practitioners who specialise in family law issues. They deal with legal matters involving family members. Divorce, child custody, and guardianship are only a few examples of legal challenges. They can also represent parties in family law cases that wind up in court.

A family law lawyer may be quite helpful in ensuring that these proceedings move according to plan and needs, whether it’s making choices concerning assets, spousal maintenance, or child support. A family lawyer can ensure that your rights are safeguarded and that you receive all of the benefits to which you are entitled.

The lawyer will need to know details of the relationship history, the property pool, and the children’s ages, dates of birth, addresses where they have resided in the previous five years, and any health or psychological difficulties that each child is dealing with as well as any risk issues in relation to the children.

Our lawyers have nearly four decades of experience since 1986 in literally hundreds of cases, many of which likely have facts similar to yours.

Our areas of expertise within family law include, but are not limited to, divorce property settlements, applications for parenting orders, and domestic violence applications and prosecutions.

Nearly four decades of experience since 1986 in literally hundreds of cases, many of which have facts similar to yours.

Firstly, we assess if there is any prospect of resolution through alternative dispute resolution processes. If not, we will recommend and actively pursue the appropriate court remedies.

We have many references from past clients and colleagues, and we refer one of our lawyers’ linkedin page here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-mallett-470a0548/

Fees are charged primarily on a time basis, i.e., an hourly rate, for the actual time spent working on your file, and payment plans and fixed fees can be applied where appropriate. Fees and court scales are explained in our client agreement and explanatory memorandum.

We will call you with a follow up email immediately if there is anything important that we need to do or discuss with you. Otherwise, we will keep in touch every 20 business days by way of phone call and /or email, with progress updates.

This depends upon the nature of your case and the attitude of the other party to the proceedings (if your case is defended or consented to). It also depends on whether or not your matter can be resolved through alternative dispute resolution or needs to be determined by a court.

One of our lawyers will personally handle all substantive aspects of your case, and they will remain your primary point of contact. From time to time, you may be contacted by personal assistants, paralegals, or other staff members, generally only in relation to administrative or practical incidental aspects of the running of your case.

Through ongoing legal practice and experience, and attending seminars. We are automatically alerted to any changes in the law, either through the Queensland Law Society, subscription services, or the Family Law Practitioners Association, of which we are members.

We can and will provide you with an estimate, often a range, of the total cost of your case based on the facts that are known at that particular time. You will be immediately notified if this estimate changes, say, due to a change in the direction of your case or the establishment of new facts.

Our success rate in achieving realistically desired outcomes is very high—nearly 100%.

There are a number of dispute resolution methods available in most cases, and these methods will be explained to you. Unless you instruct otherwise, we will guide your case towards attempted resolution by alternative dispute resolution practices prior to the issuing of any court proceedings.

Generally, if your spouse is uncooperative or contentious, this unfortunately may add additional costs and delay to your case. We will endeavour to recover at least a portion of these additional costs from your spouse through court orders where possible. However, the general rule in family law matters is that each party pays their own costs.

You can expect to receive a just and equitable result by way of property division, framed towards your desired outcomes where possible. For child custody, or parenting orders as we now call them, you can expect to achieve court orders that are in the best interests of the child, considering the particular facts of your case. We can also assist you with negotiating and enforcing orders for child support, in conjunction with the Child Support Agency where necessary, as we are aware that obtaining and enforcing fair child support orders is often like “walking in a minefield”.

Secure all bank accounts, including credit cards, and close all joint bank accounts, distributing funds fairly. Undertakings will be sought from your spouse to not dispose of or deal with assets and property interests until further joint agreement or court order, and an injunction will be obtained if necessary. We can also place a caveat over any joint property or property in your spouse’s name only to protect your interests until further agreement or order.

Always keep in the forefront of your mind the fact that if the matter were determined by a court, the court would make parenting orders that were in your child’s best interests. You should not denigrate or put down the other parent to, or in the presence of, a child, and you should seek to be cooperative with the other parent if possible. You should seek to foster and facilitate a meaningful relationship and substantial time for your child with the other parent, unless it is unsafe to do so or is otherwise not in the child’s best interests. Keep a diary of your daily thoughts and interactions with the other parent.

We can give you general legal advice in relation to whether or not a tax liability may apply to your property division; however, we cannot give financial advice. You will need to obtain this advice from an accountant or financial consultant before you agree on any property division.

If you, and/or a child, have been or are still subjected to domestic violence or abuse, we will do all we can to ensure that you and the child are properly emotionally, financially, and psychologically supported and protected from that abuse. If you instruct us to do so in the appropriate circumstances, we will immediately file a court application and obtain a temporary protection order. Often, this order can be made on the same day the application is filed.

We will provide you with a checklist of documents required prior to our initial consultation. In a nutshell, you should be in a position to provide us with a basic outline of your relationship details, the children’s particulars, incidents of any domestic violence, and the current value of all assets and liabilities, including superannuation. Please bring your diary with you to assist.