Each month Katrina will be providing you with information as to what has been “happening” at Oner Family Law. This will highlight the many different areas of family law in which we practice.
September 2019
- We appeared in Court on behalf of a father whose former partner was refusing to enter into a Court Order by consent documenting their son’s living arrangements. The father was left with no choice other than to commence Court proceedings. At the first Court date, the mother not only agreed to document the child’s arrangements by an agreed Court Order, but also agreed to increase the father’s time with the child.
- We received urgent instructions to act on behalf of a mother where the father separated their two young children, and unilaterally retained one child in his sole care, separating the two siblings, even though the mother had been the primary carer of both children since birth and after separation. We managed to obtain an urgent Court date within days of the father retaining the child, at which the father agreed to return the child to the mother, and where the parties reached agreement on the terms of a final Court Order whereby the mother remained the primary carer for both children.
August 2019
- We settled at mediation on a final basis a very high conflict property settlement and children’s matter where the parties had continued living under the same roof after separation and where they had very different versions as to who was providing what care for the children. Prior to the mediation the parties were involved in domestic violence proceedings and were highly distrustful of each other. With the hard work of both their solicitors and an excellent mediator, against all odds, and after 9 hours of negotiation, the matter resolved by agreement at mediation.
- Our junior Solicitor Mikaela Jordan attended an invaluable conference regarding Court-room advocacy skills with hands on tips from Judges, which will no doubt be of benefit to our clients.
July 2019
- Preparation commenced for the drafting of Court material regarding a very high wealth contested property settlement. The parties cannot agree on the percentage to be applied to the division of their wealth, with the Court needing to determine the matter. The issue arises as to whether the bread winner should be awarded more than 50% due to the breadwinner’s greater financial contribution. Watch this space.
- We obtained a final Court Order in default of a father’s appearance, providing sole primary care to the mother, in circumstances where the father had previously been the children’s primary carer due to mental health issues suffered by the mother. Sadly for the children, the father decided he no longer wanted to have a relationship with the children after the Court Ordered that the children live with the mother.
June 2019
- We settled a complex property settlement matter at mediation where the parties had been separated for 10 years and matrimonial funds had been inter mingled with post-separation property acquisitions. The matter had been ongoing for some years and our client was very happy that the matter was finalised with all financial ties severed.
- We obtained instructions to act on behalf of a client who asserts that the parties’ defacto relationship ended some 15 years ago, with the other party asserting the relationship ended 2 years ago. The Court will need to determine when the relationship ended before proceeding further. If our client is successful, the case will be over with no defacto property settlement claim existing.
May 2019
- We settled a property settlement matter by way of Consent Orders for a very wealthy client with a net pool in excess of $10,000,000.00, where both parties were sensible, resulting in a just and equitable outcome for both. The settlement was finalised at a small cost to the client given both parties were willing to negotiate a resolution quickly.
- We received instructions to act on behalf of a father with his matter involving property settlement, children and child support issues. The father intends to relocate overseas, raising the issue of the jurisdiction of the Child Support Agency overseas and the father’s obligations. We were able to successfully negotiate regular time between the father and child where the father had been denied such time by the mother.
April 2019
- We appeared in Court on behalf of a mother involved in a very complex children’s matter where the children had not seen their father for some time due to serious allegations of family violence as against the father. We prepared thoroughly for this appearance and had independent subpoenaed evidence to be submitted to the Court supporting the mother’s claims. The parties consented to an interim supervised contact order being in place pending the preparation of a Family Report.
- We drafted and finalised on an urgent basis Consent Order documents for a client finalising both property and children’s matters where the other party had been refusing to negotiate or formalise a settlement on any issue. Once our client was able to convince the other party to do so, we managed to draft the Consent Order documents in record time including very detailed child Orders and property Orders favourable to our client before the other party changed their mind. Had the documents not been drafted as quickly, it is likely the agreement would not have been formalised.
March 2019
- We attended at mediation with our client whose parents had gifted to the parties hundreds and thousands of dollars where the other party tried to deny such gifts which were easily proven by the provision of bank statements. After a difficult start to the mediation, we managed to settle property matters on a final basis, with our client receiving a just and equitable adjustment for the contribution made by her side of the family.
- We were involved in a settlement conference regarding a Wills and Estate dispute where a party to property settlement proceedings died during the Court proceedings. The matter settled shortly after the settlement conference along the lines suggested by us so as to finalise the matter with the Estate not needing to fund thousands of dollar in legal fees.
