Surrogacy arrangements can be a long and difficult journey for both intending parents and the surrogate. It is every intending parents’ worst nightmare to hear their surrogate say that they want to renege from their surrogacy agreement by terminating the pregnancy or...
In the recent case heard at the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 1), Justice Gill made orders of six months imprisonment of Ms Trach, a mother who was found guilty of contempt for failing to provide information about location of her missing...
You may have heard of people asking for ‘prenups’ from discussions with friends, in the news, in movies or even songs, as Kanye West so famously sung ‘we want prenup, we want prenup, yeah!’. So, what is a prenup? Are prenups legal in Australia? How can you ensure your...
Regional Victoria’s recent case, Karcher v Lacoss, Judge O’Shannessy made orders providing for the father to have sole parental responsibility for COVID-19 vaccinations and other vaccinations of their child. The questions raised at the interim defended hearing were...
In Australia, who gets custody of the children? There is no such thing as father’s rights or mother’s rights in parenting arrangements under the Family Law Act. The only right considered by the Family Law Act is the child’s rights. Despite this, you may be asking...
If you are looking for a lawyer to advise you on how property is split in a separation in Australia, we have the answer to those questions on the below link (See ‘How Does the Court Divide Property’). Each case, however, is quite different and lawyers rely...
Can infidelity affect child custody arrangements? Infidelity can create a lot of animosity and resentment between parties. The question is, is it ever relevant to child custody arrangements? Infidelity will rarely affect child custody orders or arrangements. In...
On the 8 March 2022, Trevor McKenna reported to the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia on what the Court says about COVID vaccination of your child. On 25 January 2020 Australia confirmed its first case of COVID-19. 13 months later in February...
Can a parent restrict access of their child to the other parent? It is not uncommon in high conflict child custody battles for one parent to deny or restrict access or limit the time the other parent spends with the child. So, is it possible for one parent to stop the...
Separating from your spouse is one of the most stressful life experiences that you can go through. It is extremely important that you choose the best family lawyer to reduce the time, expense and emotional toll on yourself. So, how do you go about finding the best...
The issue of vaccination has been a contentious issue recently as Australia comes out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Australian Government permitted access for 12-year-olds to receive the Pfizer vaccinate and it is expected it will soon be available to five-year-old...
The Children, Youth and Families Amendment Bill proposes to extend the time child protection workers can remove children from their parents from one working day to two working days. This may see children separated from their families for several days should the...