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Family law amendments to impact de factos
A Brisbane family lawyer says recent changes to the Family Law Act will spark significant changes to de facto property settlements in Australia.
Emma Musgrave
Hetherington Family Law principal Jennifer Hetherington has issued a warning to unmarried couples, saying that they need to be wary of the federal government’s passing of the Civil Law and Justice Legislation Amendment Act 2018, as it will impact them in negotiating property settlements.
“The situation has always been that married or de facto couples can consent to the court making orders out of time. However, previously the provisions of the Family Law Act allowed married couples to do so using an Application for Consent Orders," Ms Hetherington said.
“This is a truncated process which only requires the parties to file forms with the family court, whereas the de facto couples were required to make a formal application and appear before a judge to obtain leave even if they both consented.
“The law amendment will now allow de facto couples to also use the Application for Consent Orders process. This will result in significant cost savings for de facto couples who have not been able to finalise their property settlement within the two-year time limit but need to have a property settlement to finalise matters."
Further, Ms Hetherington said the passing of the act will be of benefit to de facto couples who split, as they won’t be subjected to a “stressful and daunting” environment posed by family courts.
“This is an important and long overdue amendment which I have personally pushed for over some time. De facto couples have been recognised in the Family Law Act for many years now and this is an important step towards affording them the same rights as married couples if their relationships break down,”she said.
“It will enable de facto couples who resolve matters at mediation or using collaborative practice to formalise the end of their relationship with legally binding documents without being exposed to the environment of the Federal Circuit Court or Family Court.
“If parties choose to resolve matters amicably then it’s quite unfair to expose them to a court environment which is not only expensive but also stressful and daunting.”
Ms Hetherington also spoke out recently about other changes in relation to the Family Law Act, including those that see greater consequences for people who abduct children.
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
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