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A Family Lawyer Perth isn't usually something you think about on a daily or even weekly basis but once you are put in a situation where you need one it can be difficult to understand where to find one that suits your needs.
A family lawyer Perth will cover a wide spectrum of issues related to their area of law, the three main ones being (violent) restraining orders, divorce and child custody, along with other related issues. If you are just looking for advice on child custody lawyers, family court, Divorce Lawyer, separation settlement or court orders we believe this is a good place to start!
Why Us? It's important to note that while looking for a lawyer its not as simple as finding the most experienced firm in that field and assuming they are the best family lawyers in Perth, its also very important to find one that suits all of your needs and understands how specific your situation is. We specifically select lawyers here in Perth that meet a very strict criteria as to ensure you have the easiest transition during an uncomfortable and vulnerable period.
It's important to note that in today's society just because you have a child with a now separated partner it can't be assumed that during the relationship it was a stereotypical family. We understand that all family's are different and are willing to fight in court for an outcome that achieves the best result for yourself and children.
Along with offering our services to assist in the financial decision making process during the settlement procedure, feel free to contact Family Lawyer Perth with the link below.
Family Lawyer Perth is a very sensitive area of law in which many people come together from a variety of different places to determine how they want to continue with their life and loved ones. Understandably this can lead to uncomfortable and quite upsetting situations for those involved thus making it difficult to know where to start. That's why picking a Family Lawyer that you feel comfortable with and can see from your perspective is very important.
Listed above is only a few of the main examples of what Family Law can entail and is not limited to what has been mentioned. If you are unsure about what advice one of our Family Lawyers are able to offer a person in your situation, continue to read further as we explain how a Perth Lawyer can help you with the specific law here in Western Australia.
Another large part of family law is dealing with a variety of restraining orders ranging from the common violence restraining order to either Family violence restraining order or Misconduct restraining order. Although these three share a common trait of protecting either a person, entity, business or general public from alleged domestic violence, stalking, harassment or sexual assault they all can be applied for in different ways. Contact the best Family Lawyer Perth today! The Perth Lawyer.
Trained with many years experience our Perth Lawyers know the ins and outs of working a Family Law case in the West Australian legal system. If you are unsure of what style of lawyer you might need for the issues you are having it is highly recommended you start speaking to a lawyer ASAP as in most cases time is of the essence. The best part about having a lawyer specific to where you live is they know the exact laws of the state and the workings of our very specific legal system.
We can also talk you through the whole process from start to finish while providing the correct forms you need to complete and the different avenues you might need to go down such as ensuring you are applying to the right court. Sometimes all that is needed is piece of mind knowing that a lawyer is not needed, Call up now for an over the phone consultation to speak to Perth lawyers about your situation to see if it warrants any legal assistance.
If you are dealing with separation or divorce matters that involve a child we have special lawyers that only deal in family matters of this nature that can tend to your difficult financial position and assist you with finding the appropriate advice and help provide the preferred outcome at court. This is also for those in a de - facto relationship, divorce or unmarried family that have children or property and have lived together for a certain period of time.
A few of the common areas that have already been covered (See above) such as divorce, de - facto, child custody and pre-nuptials are usually the main matters Family Lawyers Perth deal with. But.. did you know The Perth Lawyer also has a wide variety of professional lawyers based here in Western Australia in areas such as:
Within these areas are most other subcategory that are commonly sort after including Wills & Estates and Road Fines. If you are interested in knowing more about these areas of law or are just interested in how court proceedings take place please don't hesitate to contact us!
Knowing when to hire a lawyer for your problems can be just as hard as knowing what type of lawyer you need. So let’s cover exactly what the typical family lawyer does in their line of work. Most people can break down just from the name, the main parts of what a family lawyer has to offer. This would be assisting the divorce process, creating a will and pre nuptial and helping child related cases. While these are usually the main jobs a family lawyer would work in, they also cover other areas that aren’t as well known. Those being child protective proceedings, adoption, surrogacy, alimony and shared parenting. It can also include more serious court related cases such as juvenile law, parental kidnapping and supervised visitation.
One thing to remember is that a lawyer of any kind can become expensive very quickly, especially if you are working with one that has many years experience. If you are going through a divorce and are able to leave the relationship admirably, that would be the best case scenario where both sides are happy with the splitting of assets (Including bank accounts) which ever way is deemed appropriate. However as many people know from others this doesn’t alway happen. If either side of a relationship decides to put up their defences and claim any which way of it not being fair then be prepared for a lengthy court case with legal costs jumping into the tens of thousands. As per Australian law, The Perth Lawyer isn’t able to provide you with legal advice but understanding how your situation works in the court of law is important and we encourage you to gain information from a variety of sources.
The ideal situation during a divorce would be both parties agreeing to who keeps the pets and the agreement to ownership and visitations. However it is never that simple when it comes to part of your family and loved ones. Unfortunately pets/ animals are classified as very different to people in the court of law where they are seen as objects to a persons ownership and are treated as such. If one person of the relationship has purchased the pet/ animal and it is registered in their name then most of the time they will be the ones that keep the pets. In some circumstances however you are able to put a case forward that during the process of your relationship you were the primary caregiver and the other person aren’t willing or able to provide proper care. Just as some other countries around the world, many people in Australia want pets to be considered more as their human counterparts and not just assets but family law expert Heather McKinnon from Slater and Gordon has said "Australia is a long way from introducing a similar law".
The Australian government doesn’t view the entrance into marriage as a light option and notes that once the documents are signed to consummate the marriage then that is your offical title. Even if you decide 3 minutes or 30 years after your wedding that you want to split, the process is the same. You are required to prove that you have been attempting to live apart even if under the same roof and have attempted to make the marriage work through things such as marriage support. Once you have done this for 12 months or longer you are able to start the divorce process.
The court requires you and your partner to complete the separation process for at least 12 months or longer if you would like to start the divorce process. This can be done even while living under the same roof, so long as you treat the relationship more as housemates rather than partners. This involves sleeping in different beds, having seperate bank accounts, eating at different times, maintaining different schedules, ceasing sexual activity, not going on dates and other activities that are usually spent together but are done separately. Once the required time period has elapsed then you are able to start the legal divorce process, it is not required by law that you have a lawyer to help with this process but it is recommended if you expect there to be challenges with the divorce. This process typically takes between 4-6 months to complete.
Once you have been officially divorced in Australia for at least 1 month then you are legally allowed to remarry. If you marry someone before this time period you will be considered bigamy. The definition of 'Bigamy' is "The crime of marrying a person while already legally married to someone else". In all of Australia this is considered a crime that is eligible of imprisonment. The are a few
With a house being usually the most expensive asset of a relationship it can quickly become the hot conversation of who ends up with ownership. This is where the best case scenario would be agreeing beforehand to who keeps the house or if it was to sell an agreed upon percentage of payout. This can happen best when the property/ land is able to go through the standard selling procedure and isn’t forced to sell at any price. If this doesn’t happen and the case of the divorce goes to court then the judge will decide what the best course of action would be for both the living situations of both persons. This process goes much easier for everyone involved if there are no kids with either of the partners so lets talk about that first.
If a house was purchased completely by one person before they met the other and it was fully paid off, once they have met the requirements of being classified as having a de facto relationship or being married then that property/ land is shared 50/50 between the two persons in a long term relationship. However this doesn't always happen, the assets that both parties brought to a long term relationship looses its value when compared to the current needs of the parties. This includes each persons ability to create an income, their health and their recent contributions to things such as keeping house, renovations and monetary input.
You may have heard that men are more likely to come out with the short end of the stick when kids are involved and it is still seen as a grey area in Australia, but here are a few things we do know. The law states that is does not discriminate when it come to the splitting of assets and all areas related to children, however, it does everything in the best interested of the parties involved and their current and future situation. For the most part, there is still a higher majority of men being the primary bread winners in the average house hold. This lifestyle choice of the family in divorce leads the courts to acknowledge that the female was the primary caregiver of the children. It is because of these factors that a court might keep the mother and children in the family home and require the father to pay the support of his children. While this might seem as one sided it is important to remember that the court is acting in everyones best interest, especially the children in the middle and the results would be the switched if the father was the primary care giver of the children.
Becoming a lawyer is hard, even for those who are good at that style of work can find it challenging. However family law brings with it a type of challenge that many other professions don’t touch on. That being high emotional stress, such as emergency service personnel, doctors, nurses and others, family lawyers are forced to be involved in peoples personal lives, usually when they are at their lowest. Dealing with emotionally charged people each day can quickly become draining and difficult to do your job when their not thinking straight. If you are able to manage this sort of stress and still preform then you are in for a very rewarding career. Just remember if you start your degree thinking you will become a family lawyer you aren't forced to stay down that path and will have many options to change and pursue a different area of law.
The definition of a prenuptial agreement is " An offical document signed by two people before they get married that says what will happen to their possessions and/ or children if they divorce" This means that those who enter a relationship agree to certain terms before reaching the classification of married or de facto. The sort of information in these agreements involve who gets what assets after a divorce or separation and to what extent the other party is able to share information about the other person. In some very rare circumstances a judge might decide to over turn the prenuptial to ensure the well being other the other party if the original agreement was too far out from a reasonable expectation, it’s important to note that this almost never happens.
Many people with a large sum of wealth or are well known in the community decide to get a prenuptial as it covers much of their work for money or fame but it does come with its own problems. Some partners have issues with the idea of not being able to share everything in their relationship and don’t find issue with not having access to wealth but rather the understanding of trust isn’t there. It is here where you must make the decision if you want a prenuptial or agree to keep your relationship built off complete trust. It really can turn a relationship sour but also save other a lot of money by not being forced to sell a business or home. It is usually best to speak directly with you spouse and lawyer and your specific situation.
A last will and testament is a document that is written up before a person has passed away delegating their belongings. This involves all of their physical and liquid assets. It provides information about their beneficiaries and executor, these a people who are set to gain something or execute the instructions of the will respectively. If you die without a will you will have the classification of dying intestate, meaning you have not define what you want done with your assets/ belongings nor specified who you want to carry out these actions.
If a fully completed will is not thought out or one is not completed at all then the state will decide what happens to your assets. It is because of this that many lawyers adopt the “Plane Crash Method” where a situation is played out to ensure all areas are covered when drafting a will. This method goes as followed. Imagine you are lucky enough to win lotto and decide to take your entire family on vacation. In the process the plane goes down and every member of your family that would normally be given some part of your will are on that plane as well. Slightly morbid, we know, but it asked a good question. Where does everything your worth go? Nothing can be left so you inform your lawyer to include a charity of your choice to give too. Many people usually select a local dog shelter or science research.
Once all of these decisions are made you are the majority of the way to completing a basic will. More complex ones cost a lot more to complete attributed too how in-depth it goes. From covering family trusts to each individual person getting specific amount of money/ assets at what times and events in their lives. The last thing a good family lawyer will encourage you to consider would be the chance of someone contesting your will. Such as a distant relative or disgruntled child. This is usually covered if you provide information regarding this types of people in your will. For example, imagine you and your daughter lose contact for 30 years and she went out of her way to ensure you didn’t get access to your grandchildren. Certainly a less than ideal situation but you decide to leave her with nothing/ very little in your will. Legally she is entitled to a reasonable share, so what can you do. If you provide justification as to your decision a judge will take this into consideration and usually side with your wishes.
The only other leg this hypothetical daughter has to stand on would be challenging the will on the bases of your mental capacity during the drafting of you will. While a lawyer has the ability to sign the will and have it witnessed, it can still be claimed that you were not of sound mind. This is why it’s important to have a doctor sign off through an evaluation stating that as of the time of signing, you had full mental capacity of your decisions.
Remember: Make a master copy of your will and put it in a very safe but accessible space with proof that the document was unaltered in any way. If it is found that a change has been made without proper accountability then the entire document is at risk of being thrown out.
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