James Taylor Solicitor has 30 years’ experience in acting for clients in family law matters.
James regularly appears for clients in family law matters in the Family and Federal Circuit Court of Australia at Dubbo (Circuit Court), at Parramatta, Sydney, Newcastle and Sydney.
He also appears in the Local Court for urgent family law applications involving children. He also regularly appears for clients at mediation and in court in matters involving the parties’ children, property and divorce.
James Taylor Solicitor can give you experienced and expert advice about your legal rights and options available to settle any proceedings at the outset, which includes your most important assets, your marriage, your children; and your property.
James Taylor Solicitor can help you:
- Understand what is involved when you separate or divorce.
- Understand what rights you have regarding your children, maintenance and property.
- Negotiate a maintenance and financial settlement.
- Negotiate custody and child support payments.
- Be properly represented in a property and financial settlement dispute.
- Make a Parenting Order application.
- Arrange a child support assessment.
- Draft a child support agreement.
- Negotiate and draft a binding financial agreement.
- Make sure you have a legal paternity test.
- Defend a charge of child abduction.
Property & Financial settlements
When you get divorced or end a de facto relationship you’ll need to divide up the property and financial assets that you and your partner have. How property and financial settlements are dealt with is outlined in the Family Law Act.
James Taylor Solicitor can help you:
- Identify what property and assets need to be included in your financial settlement.
- Make sure that you disclose everything you need to the Court.
- Understand what rights you have when it comes to protecting your property.
- Make sure that the Court has considered all the factors that are relevant to your property settlement.
- Negotiate a maintenance and financial settlement.
- Represent you in a property and financial settlement dispute.
There are four stages in a property dispute:
When the Court looks at a property dispute between two people who were married or partners, it follows four steps:
Identify and value: The Court will first look at what property, debts or liabilities and financial resources each of you have at the time of your Court hearing. If you and your partner have already made some decisions about your property before the hearing the Court can also include this in its assessment. You will need to tell the Court about all of your property, assets, debts, liabilities and financial resources.
Assess contributions: The Court will then look at what each of you have contributed both financially and in other forms towards the property. This will help them determine what percentage of the net value of the property you and your partner are entitled to. The Court may do this by looking at all of your property and assets together, or take each asset individually and assess it.
Assess other factors: Other factors, like differences in your income and earning capacity and the time and cost spent looking after your children, are taken into account by the Court. Depending on these factors, the Court may adjust the percentage of the net value of the property that you or your partner are entitled to.
Make an order: Once it has reviewed all of these factors, the Court will make an order that it believes is a just and equitable outcome for you and your partner. The Court has the power to make orders regardless of when or how property or assets were acquired or in whose name they are held.
If you were married, your property settlement can be finalised up to 12 months after your divorce is finalised. There are some situations where it can take longer than 12 months, such as if there’s an application to set aside a property order or change a maintenance order.
If you were in a de facto relationship, you may apply for a property and maintenance order within two years of your relationship ending. The process is the same for de facto relationships as it is for married couples.
Parenting and Children’s Matters:
James Taylor Solicitor can help you:
- Understand what your rights are.
- Make a Parenting Order application for you.
- Help you prepare for a Parenting Order hearing.
- Represent you in a Parenting Order hearing.
- Determine if you can apply to enforce a Parenting Order.
Parenting Orders:
A Parenting Order is an order made by the Family Court of Australia or the Federal Circuit Court of Australia and deals with the parenting of a child. These are often made when the children’s parents separate or divorce, but can also be made at other times.
Anyone who is concerned about the welfare or development of a child can apply for a Parenting Order. This may include one of their parents, a grandparent, the child themselves or someone else. Parenting Orders can deal with a variety of different issues including:
- Who’ll be responsible for making major decisions about the child’s health, religious or cultural upbringing, name or education.
- Where the child will live.
- Who the child will live with.
- When a child can spend time with or communicate with their parent or someone else.
- Who can collect a child or drop them when they’re changing over custody.
- What happens when a child has been taken by someone who doesn’t have permission to take them.
- Who is responsible for making child maintenance payments.
Before a Parenting Order Application can be made you must be able to show that you have made a genuine effort to reach an agreement. This may involve attending Family Dispute Resolution. A Parenting Order Application is then only made when you can’t reach an agreement between yourselves unless the situation is urgent. For example, if there has been family violence then you can apply for an urgent hearing date.
Once a Parenting Order is made everyone must comply with it. If someone doesn’t, then an enforcement application may be made and the Court may impose a penalty on the person who breaches the Order.
What the Court considers:
When making a Parenting Order, the Court must consider the best interests of the child.
This means they must consider:
- How the child will benefit from having a meaningful relationship with both of its parents; and
- The need to protect the child from physical or psychological harm that may occur if they’re subjected or exposed to abuse, neglect or family violence.
The Court must also take into account other factors like:
- What the child wants.
- The child’s relationship with each of their parents.
- How each parent can provide for the child.
- If the child is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, then their right to enjoy their culture.
- If there is any Family Violence Order involving the child or their family.
When making a Parenting Order, the Court must first assume that it’s in the best interests of the child for their parents to have equal shared responsibility for them unless there are reasonable grounds that a parent or person living with a parent has abused a child or been violent to a member of their family. The Court may then see evidence that goes against this assumption.
The Court may have a number of hearings before they make their final decision. This may involve hearing from experts like psychologists or medical professionals.
Sometimes the Court may appoint an Independent Children’s Lawyer who represents the best interests of the child. They may also make interim Parenting Orders that apply until their final decision.