There can be a lot of uncertainty around whether a couple is in a de facto relationship. A person is in a de facto relationship with another person (irrespective of gender) if they have a relationship with that person as a couple living together on a genuine domestic basis, having regard to all the circumstances of their relationship.
The Australian Law Reform Commission released its review of the family law system in March 2019. The review made 60 different recommendations for change to the current system.
The Court has a wide discretion about how they deal with inheritances received during a relationship as well as after separation when making property settlement orders. Inheritances are not a protected category of property and will not automatically be treated differently from other assets available for distribution.
A parent cannot relocate to another country with the children of the relationship without either the other parent’s consent or an order of the Court permitting him or her to do so.
In the 2018 case of Goldman v Goldman, the wife was the primary carer to the parties’ two children aged 13 and 11 years of age respectively at the date of the trial prior to separation, and the children had also lived with the wife since separation.
On 30 May 2018 the Government announced its proposal for the restructure of the Federal Courts
which have jurisdiction to hear Family Law matters.
The Full Court of the Family Court held in the 2017 decision of Re Kelvin that the Court’s sanction is no longer required for stage two treatment of Gender Dysphoria where the child is capable of giving Informed Consent or those with parental authority authorise the treatment.
The short answer is that the new same sex marriage laws will have no significant impact on Australia’s family law system.
Australia’s family law system faces an overhaul after the government unveiled an inquiry aimed at fixing what it believes is a dysfunctional method of dealing with family breakdown.
In a recent case heard by the Full Court of the Family Court, Chancellor & McCoy, a same sex couple who were in a de facto relationship for 27 years were not required to divide their property after separation. The Court found it was not “just and equitable” to make property settlement Orders. During the…