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Publications & alerts
Our team of Family Law specialists regularily produce alerts and publications on current topics and changes in the law. Recent publications can be viewed by clicking on the title to the left.
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The new Surrogacy Act 2010 (Qld) - a guide for potential surrogates
28 July 2011
The Surrogacy Act 2010 (Qld) came into effect in Queensland on 1 June 2010. The Act provides the framework for the regulation of altruistic surrogacy agreements and prohibits commercial surrogacy arrangements.Read more
Premature distributions, waste and add-backs – The Family Court again tackles Notional Adjustments to Property Pools
8 March 2011
Ever since Kowaliw, the Full Court has held that notional adjustments to property pools for section 79 determinations have been the exception and not the rule. Read more
Family Law Amendment Bill a step in the right direction and hopefully the first step in further reforms
4 March 2011
The Family Law Section of the Law Council, chaired by Geoff Sinclair, recently published its response to the Family Law Amendment (Family Violence) Bill 2010. The Bill was tabled by government in an effort to respond to recent reports into the 2006 Family Law Reforms and how the family law system deals with family violence.Read more
The Family Law Amendment (Validation of Certain Parenting Orders) Bill 2010
26 November 2010
As a consequence of the High Court’s decision in MRR v. GR [2010] HCA 41, there was a collective shudder amongst the family law fraternity.Read more
Parental Responsibility - Implication, Order & Effect
11 October 2010
In a recent decision of Lansa & Clovelly [2010] FamCA 80, Murphy J discussed at some detail the interplay between parental responsibility conferred on a parent by virtue of section 61C of the Family Law Act 1975 and an order that confers parental responsibility. Read more
Traps when providing for spousal maintenance in financial agreements
7 September 2010
When a court makes an order for spousal maintenance pursuant to section 74 of the Family Law Act 1975, there are statutorily prescribed events which terminate or modify the order. Read more
Post-Mortem Sperm Harvesting
10 June 2010
On 21 April 2010, White J ordered that provided a widow pay the costs associated with storage, an IVF clinic in Brisbane was required to store the gametes (sperm) of her late husband. Read more
Parental Alienation in the Courts
10 June 2010
Two recent cases have highlighted the difficulty family law and the courts face when dealing with what has been labelled “parental alienation”.Read more
Binding Financial Agreements - A Plague on Both your Houses!
14 July 2010
When poor Mercutio gets embroiled in a familial punch-up between the Montagues and the Capulets, he is the one that gets stabbed and dies. Before collapsing off-stage, he curses the fight that brings about his untimely demise. Such a curse might also fall from unsuspecting and unprepared family lawyers who prepare financial agreements for couples who may, perhaps years or decades into the future, end up warring like Romeo and Juliet’s mum and dad.Read more
Are the 'Recommendations' of Family Report Writers Admissible Evidence?
3 June 2009
The fundamental rule of evidence is that it must be relevant. It is said that all other rules of evidence flow from this fundamental rule. 1The purpose of the fundamental rule is to only allow 'evidence' which tends to prove or disprove a fact in issue...Read more
When will the court order paternity testing?
10 June 2010
There is significant community interest in the capacity of DNA assessment to affect court proceedings. It is suggested that a swathe of wrongly convicted persons might be released because of 'DNA evidence.' That is yet to bear fruit. On the other hand,...Read more
Is Contested International Relocation Dead?
10 June 2010
One of the principle proponents of the 2006 'shared care' amendments to the Family Law Act 1975, Professor Patrick Parkinson of the Sydney University Law School, has openly commented that those amendments 'ought to make relocation harder'. It should be...Read more
De Facto Property Proceedings – The State Courts will hang on
10 June 2010
It may be that we family and relationship lawyers had a collective sigh of relief with the passage and commencement of the Family Law Amendment (De Facto Financial Matters and Other Measures) Act 2008. Practised in the streamlined rules and procedures ...Read more
Kennon v. Spry – The High Court and discretionary family trusts
3 June 2009
Discretionary family trusts are not uncommon. Whether created for some tax benefit, or to avoid other imposts on transfer or disposition, these trusts often play an important role in the asset management of a family.
Generally speaking, the trustee ...Read more
Property settlements, property orders and the Global Economic Crisis
3 June 2009
Somewhat stating the obvious, large accounting firms are predicting significant underperformance for many businesses reliant upon consistent cash flow and liquidity during this current economic crisis. Relationships, too, require cash flow and liquidit...Read more