The Very Idea of Property Settlement For Intact Marriages
David Gawthorne is a Senior Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and an Accredited Specialist in Family, Relationship and Matrimonial Law
The High Court has recently confirmed that Family Law Courts have the power to grant to spouses orders for property settlement, even where their marriage is still intact and they have not voluntarily separated. The case of Stanford v. Stanford concerned a second marriage of 40 years in duration. The husband and wife had each left their estate to their respective children of their previous marriages in their wills. Their most valuable property was their family home, which was registered in the husband’s sole name. When the wife was incapacitated by a stroke and had to move into full-time residential care, the wife’s daughter commenced proceedings against the husband for property settlement in the Family Court of Western Australia, on behalf of the wife. This was so even though the husband had no intention of separating from the wife and he had set aside funds for her ongoing additional expenses. Read the rest of this entry »
Surrogacy Arrangements in NSW
David Gawthorne is a Senior Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and an Accredited Specialist in Family, Relationship and Matrimonial Law
A surrogacy arrangement is an arrangement under which a woman agrees to become pregnant and for parentage of the child born as a result to be transferred to the intended parent or parents. In NSW, since 2011, it has been possible to apply to the Supreme Court to formalise certain surrogacy arrangements by the making of a parentage order under the Surrogacy Act. By the order, the child becomes a child of the intended parents named in the order and the child stops being a child of the birth parent. The child of such surrogacy arrangements has the same rights in relation to the intended parents as a child born to them, and the intended parents have the same parental responsibility as the birth parent had before the order was made. Read the rest of this entry »
Child Support: Getting a Second (or Third or Fourth) Opinion
David Gawthorne is a Senior Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and an Accredited Specialist in Family, Relationship and Matrimonial Law
Parents have a continuing obligation to contribute to the support of their children, even after they separate and the children no longer live with them. The concept of child support is now widely understood, including that a parent or other carer with whom children of a liable parent live can apply to the Department of Human Services – Child Support for an assessment as to the liability of the other parent to make regular payments of child support. The Department also provides a service in collecting those payments from the liable parent unless the carer and liable parent make their own arrangements for collection.
The New Anti-Phone Driving Law
David Gawthorne is a Senior Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and an Accredited Specialist in Family, Relationship and Matrimonial Law
As of 1 November 2012, the NSW Road Rule as to how mobile phones can be used whilst driving has become tougher. Previously, unrestricted licence-holders could only use a phone whilst the vehicle is moving, or is stationary but not parked, if it was not held in their hand. Use includes holding the body of the phone to one’s ear (whether or not engaged in a phone call); entering or placing anything into the phone other than by the use of voice, or sending or looking at anything that is in the phone (this includes text messages and on-line content); turning the phone on or off; and operating any other function of the phone. Read the rest of this entry »