Mathews Family Law & Mediation Specialists practices exclusively in family law and mediation, offering full and ‘unbundled’ family law and mediation services.

Our accredited family law specialists and mediators are leading experts with the skill, experience and commitment to guide and support you through to the resolution of your dispute.

Separation

• We’ll provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision about separating
• Use our online fixed fee divorce service to obtain a divorce quickly, cheaply and with minimal fuss, no matter your location in Australia or overseas

Children and Parenting

• Parental responsibility
• Living arrangements (custody and access)
• Relocation
• Rights of grandparents and others

Property and Financial Settlements

• Division of assets
• Complex property settlements
• Business, company and trust structures

Superannuation

• Superannuation flagging and splitting orders
• Superannuation Agreements

Maintenance

Payments made to a former partner following separation

Financial Agreements

• To determine how your assets will be divided in the event of relationship breakdown
• May be used to terminate maintenance rights
• ‘Pre-nuptial agreements’, during relationship and following separation agreements
• De facto (including same sex) and marriage relationships

Asset Protection including injunctions and restraining orders

• For personal protection
• To prevent a person from entering or remaining in the home or other areas
• To preserve assets including sale proceeds and business operations
• To preserve superannuation

International Family Law Disputes

• International relocation
• International child abduction
• Hague Convention
• Registration of overseas parenting orders 
• International child support
• Registration and enforcement of overseas child and spousal maintenance orders
• International service of legal documents

Intervention Orders

• Legal strategies to protect against family violence

De Facto and Same Sex Relationships

Our ‘Unbundled’ Family Law Services

• Unbundling breaks up the family lawyer’s role into a number of agreed limited legal services
• Unbundling empowers the client to select only those legal services that they require
• Unbundling can limit the lawyer’s involvement to a single issue, court or mediation process including:
  • Advice only
  • Research only
  • Drafting letters or court documents
  • Reviewing client prepared letters and court documents
  • Negotiation coaching in preparation for mediation or settlement meeting
  • Negotiating on behalf of the client
  • Attendance at mediation or court appearance on behalf of the client
  • Drafting settlement agreements
  • Providing independent legal advice for financial agreements
• Supported by a written ‘unbundled limited scope engagement agreement’ (costs agreement)

The Family Law Guide For Australia – PDF Download

The Divorce Guide For Australia – PDF Download

Child Custody – Basics

The Australian legislature made significant changes to the way the courts approach custody issues in 2006. This legislation indicated a strong preference for parents to reach an agreement without resorting to litigation, and also for parents to enjoy shared parental responsibility.

Consistent with the legislature’s aims, you are required to attend family dispute resolution to reach an agreement before using the courts to determine your custody issues. After completion of family dispute resolution, you will be issued a certificate that must be filed with your application to the court for a parenting order. The court will not entertain an application without a certificate except for extreme circumstances (ie, threat of violence or abuse).

There are many dispute resolution methods you may use in order to reach an amicable agreement regarding custody. You may use the government sanctioned Family Relationship Centres and Family Advice Line, or you could use other methods such as collaborative law or arbitration.

Once you have completed the required dispute resolution process, you may apply for a parenting order. This order will address whom the child should live with, how much time the child spends with each parent, and the nature and type of communication the child should have with each parent among other issues. These orders are fully enforceable and failure to comply with a parenting order could have serious repercussions.

You may also reach an agreement with regard to parenting through something known as a parenting plan. A parenting plan is an informal agreement between parents that addresses similar issues that a parenting order would address. The major difference between a parenting plan and a parenting order is that the former is not enforceable like a court order and therefore the breaching party is not subject to the same sanctions.

Should you be unable to address your parenting issues through dispute resolution services or a parenting plan, you may litigate your case in court. There are certain procedural rules with regard to parenting proceedings that exist to make this process as Smooth as possible for the child or children involved.

The main thing to keep in mind with regard to parenting is that all parties involved should be acting with the best interest of the child at heart. The court will apply this standard if asked to address parenting issues and it should also be the main consideration for parents when trying to settle their dispute.

Vanessa Mathews recently trained as a ‘Parenting Coordinator’ as an additional dispute resolution service offering.

Parenting Coordination is a post-separation child-focused dispute resolution process.

Parenting Coordination is suitable for separated parents who:

• Continue to have high levels of dispute regarding their children after the making of a Parenting Plan or Family Court Order (interim and final)
• Are transitioning from adversarial parenting to co-parenting
• Engage their children to express their dispute
• Experience difficulty with relationships
• Are at risk of:
• Not complying with the Parenting Plan or Family Court Order (interim and final)​
• Returning to the Family Court to re-litigate their dispute.

Parenting Coordination may assist separated parents who are experiencing difficulty:

• Co-parenting their children
• Making joint decisions about their children
• Communicating effectively with each other
• Implementing their Parenting Plan or Family Court Order (interim and final)
• Complying with their Parenting Plan or Family Court Order (interim and final).

A Parenting Coordinator may be jointly appointed by the parents or a Family Court Order.

A Parenting Coordinator is usually appointed for 24 months with monthly joint meetings.

The purpose and role of the Parenting Coordinator are defined within the Parenting Plan or Family Court Order.

​A Parenting Coordinator assists parents by:

• Facilizing the resolution of their disputes in a timely manner
• Reducing conflict between parents so as to protect the children from exposure to conflict
• Educating parents about their children’s needs
• Making recommendations for resolving disputes
• Case management.

Parenting Coordination is non-confidential and fully reportable to the Family Court​.

Safety concerns are addressed during Parenting Coordination.

If you would like to know more about Parenting Coordination or have a client whom you believe may benefit from Parenting Coordinator, please contact Vanessa on 1300 635 529 or [email protected]

Generally speaking, inheritances are not excluded or otherwise quarantined from the asset pool to be divided between separating parties, and will not automatically be allocated back to the party who received them.

Some of the relevant factors the Court takes into account are as follows:

Timing and length of a relationship

For example, an inheritance received very early in a long relationship might not result in a significantly higher contributions assessment to the party who received it, because the other party might have made other contributions over the years which offset the effect of the inheritance.

An inheritance received late in the relationship or after separation in a short relationship, is more likely to result in a higher contribution assessment to the party who received it.

Amount received

The amount received – and compared with the asset pool to divide – will affect the Court’s ultimate decision.

For example, a smaller amount (say $20,000 inheritance in a pool of $1.5m) is less likely to result in contributions being assessed in favor of the party who received it than a larger amount (say $1m in a pool of $1.5m).

How it was applied

If the money was used for family holidays or otherwise spent and is no longer represented in the asset pool, it will carry less weight when assessing contributions than if it was used to purchase real estate or shares and those assets still exist at the time the Court is making a determination. It may also be relevant if the funds have been kept separate and not otherwise mingled with the parties’ assets.

Financial circumstances of the parties at the time the Court makes a decision

In a pool of $1m, where one party receives a post-separation inheritance of $500,000, it might not be just and equitable for one party to receive half of the net assets ($500,000) and the other to receive the other half plus the whole inheritance ($500,000 plus $500,000). The Court will consider the whole financial situation.

Inheritances received after separation

If one party receives an inheritance after separation but before property settlement has been agreed and formalized, the inheritance will be taken into account in the property settlement as the Court must consider all of the current financial circumstances at the time the determination is being made.

This is one of the reasons why it is recommended that separating parties finalize and formalize their property settlement as soon as possible.

This does not necessarily mean that the other party will receive a portion of the inheritance. The Court might determine that the other party made no contribution to the inheritance, but it will be taken into account and adjustments might be made in favor of the other party who does not receive the inheritance.

Future inheritances

A future inheritance will usually only be taken into account if the death of the testator is imminent.

As the inheritance has not yet been received, the Court could not include it in the asset pool but can take it into account in assessing the respective future needs of the parties.

How can an inheritance be protected against claims by the other party?

Parties to a marriage or de facto relationship can protect future inheritances by entering into a Binding Financial Agreement which sets out how any inheritance would be dealt with in the event of separation.

If parties have separated and there is a possibility that one party will receive an inheritance in the future, it is recommended that they finalize their property settlement as soon as possible, and before the death of the testator.

Specialist Family Law advice regarding family law property is essential. Let your client know about our free initial telephone consultation service by calling Vanessa Mathews on 9804 7991 to book an appointment with one of our specialist solicitors.

We’re operating as usual at Mathews Family Law. If you have any questions or concerns about how COVID-19 may impact your client’s position in relation to their family law matter, call Vanessa Mathews on 9804 7991 or email [email protected].

Not surprisingly, Family Law clients are expecting business valuers to take into account the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in their valuation reports. This is a difficult, if not impossible, task where a valuer can only take into account information known or knowable at the date of valuation.

Most valuations currently being prepared would be based upon 30 June 2019 or 31 December 2019 figures. The existence of COVID-19 was not known as at 30 June 2019, and its impact upon the Australian economy (and specifically upon the business under consideration, which might be impacted negatively or positively depending upon the nature of the business) was not known as at 31 December 2019.

It is difficult to know when will be the right time to value a business as we do not know how long restrictions will continue or when the full impact of the pandemic will be identifiable. Other related complexities include the adjustments to reported results for trading and profitability which will be required over the affected period, and taking into account the temporary effect of government and bank concessions. Accordingly it is likely to be some time before a valuation can accurately reflect the full impact of COVID-19.