Family Law Property Settlement Guide

DISCLAIMER: This general guide is not legal advice and is general information only. You should get legal advice on your circumstances.

This guide contains information to assist you in coming to a favourable property settlement.

It is designed to explain the legal process so you can understand family law property settlements. It is not a definitive and all-encompassing how-to guide, as the law is far too complex to explain in short form.

Obviously this guide cannot replace legal advice. So, we always very strongly recommend legal advice to get the best for you and your family.

The Ipswich family lawyers at Millwater Tyrrell Law will be happy to discuss your situation with you.

That being said, we hope this information points you in the right direction for thinking about your property settlement.

What to think about first in property settlement after separation?

Before we start talking about the law or who gets what share of the property, the starting point should be to protect what assets you have and protect your ability to make a claim:

Check your time limits
Protect assets and prevent additional debt.

If you are out of time for your claim you will lose the right to make a claim unless you are granted an extension. Additionally if your assets are destroyed or wasted then in many cases your claim will be defeated. We will further explain what you can do to protect your assets and take action to protect your time limit.

What are the time limits for property settlement and spousal maintenance?

For married couples, the time limit to apply for both property settlement and/or spousal maintenance is 12 months from the date of Divorce. (we will discuss the timing of a Divorce below)

For de facto couples, the time limit to apply for both property settlement and/or spousal maintenance is 2 years from the date of separation.

If your time limit is approaching you should file an Initiating Application at the Court urgently prior to the time expiring. If you do not file Court proceedings within the time limit you will lose the right to make a property settlement or spousal maintenance claim unless the Court extends your time limitation.

There are limited circumstances in which a Court will agree to extend a time limitation period. As this area of law if particularly complicated we do not detail how or when a Court will extend a time period; however if your time period is about to expire or has expired you must act swiftly and urgently to apply to the Court and take action as any ongoing delay will reduce the chance of the Court granting an extension.

We recommend you seek urgent legal advice if your time limitation is approaching or has expired.

When does a Divorce happen?

Generally parties are required to wait 12 months from the date of separation before applying for a Divorce.

If there is a circumstance of urgency, if there have been periods of living under the same roof, or if you have been married for less than a year then different requirements apply. These circumstances add a degree of complication and we recommend legal advice specific to your circumstances.

When you should apply for Divorce will depend on your circumstances.

Your spouse may challenge your Will until the date of Divorce. Depending on what assets you hold, and what assets your spouse holds, it may be in your interests to apply for Divorce as soon as possible if you hold most of the assets, or not to apply until after you have done a property settlement if you spouse holds all of the assets.

Property settlement can be done before or after a Divorce, but as stated above property settlement must be finalised within 12 months of a Divorce.

Being divorced may also effect entitlements between spouses in respect of superannuation, government support, or pension entitlements. For this reason legal advice on how Divorce will affect your circumstances is crucial.

In a very general way, if your spouse holds significant assets, superannuation and pension entitlements you should seek to finalise a property settlement prior to obtaining a Divorce.

In the opposite scenario where you hold most of the assets or entitlements, you may decide to apply for divorce as soon as possible to commence the 12 month time limit for completing a property settlement after divorce.

Make sure assets are secure!

If your spouse transfers, wastes, or destroys assets then obviously your claim to them may be defeated or made much more complicated.

Initially we recommend considering the following which are detailed further below:

Preventing a transfer of solely owned land by registering a Caveat
Seeking an Injunction to prevent assets being transferred (from bank accounts or otherwise)
Think about severing a joint tenancy of jointly owned property
Contacting banks to limit withdrawal or transfer from bank accounts/credit/loan facilities
Transferring funds to a different account for safekeeping
Review your passwords and the access that other parties have to you personal information and accounts
Update your estate planning and power of attorney documents
Update your superannuation or insurance beneficiaries

What is a caveat and when should I file one?

A caveat is a document that is lodged in the land title registry that prevents a property being transferred. If your ex-spouse is the sole owner of property you should seek advice as to whether to issue a caveat to prevent transfer of the property in their name.

Once a caveat is issued, generally Court proceedings must be started within 3 months or the caveat will lapse.

If a caveat is filed in circumstances when it should not be filed, the person that filed it can become responsible for resulting damages or costs.

What is an injunction?

An injunction is a Court Order that stops a person or entity from doing something. It can be for example to prevent selling assets, transferring funds, drawing down on a loan, attending certain places, the list goes on.

If there is imminent threat of damage or harm an injunction may be best way to prevent that damage or harm. This will of course mean starting Court proceedings to obtain the injunction, so legal advice is recommended.

You can apply for an injunction ex-parte, meaning in the absence of the other party. If you do this you must provide all relevant information to the Court whether it benefits your case or not.

What does severing a tenancy mean or do?

Sometimes property is held as joint tenants. This means both parties are listed on the title, but they have no specific percentage of ownership, they effectively both own the whole property.

Where property is held as joint tenants the rule of survivorship applies: if one party dies, the other party inherits the whole of the property. This rule applies regardless of what their Will might say.

It is a personal choice as to whether staying in a joint tenancy may be in your interests or against your interests depending on your and the other party’s circumstances.

To end the rule of survivorship, you need to sever the joint tenancy. This is done by a form filed at the land registry and the effect is that the parties then hold specifically 50% each of the property as tenants in common.

So for example, if you have serious health concerns and you want your children or others benefit from your jointly owned property upon your passing, you would consider severing the tenancy so that upon your demise 50% of the property would become part of your estate and therefore may pass to your children by your Will and estate law.

Severing a tenancy does not require the consent of your spouse and can be done at any time prior to the death of a party.

Should I cut off my spouse from funds or transfer funds from accounts?

There is very much a balance of needs vs protection of funds when thinking about preventing your spouse from accessing funds or transferring funds.

On one hand if there are significant funds in an account and there is risk that a party will withdraw, waste or otherwise dispose of the funds there is good reason to either prevent their access or to put the funds into another account for safekeeping. If you take such action you should give the other party notice of what you have done as soon as possible.

On the other hand, denying the other party access to funds can be considered as financial abuse and family violence if it negatively affects their ability to adequately support themselves.

In broad terms, acting to protect or safeguard funds is acceptable as long as it does not affect the ability of the other party to support themselves or pay their reasonable expenses.

While being careful not to ‘cut off your spouse’ the easiest initial action to protect your assets could be contacting your bank and requiring joint authorisation for withdrawals, re-draws or other transactions (or placing a limit on them).

In many cases the transfer of funds to a lawyer’s trust account for safekeeping can be the safest option to avoid future criticism.

How do I recover assets or property that has been transferred to other parties?

It is a somewhat complicated process, but the Family Law Act enables the Court to reverse transactions if they have been made for the purpose of defeating another person’s property settlement claim.

Obviously if funds are transferred out and spent the Court cannot magic them to reappear. In those circumstances the Court will usually balance the overall property settlement to take into account and otherwise reduce the share of the party who wasted or spend funds.

Even though the Court can reverse transactions, this is a complicated and expensive process and as they say, prevention is better than a cure, so take action to secure your assets.

Do I need to update my Will after separation?

Yes. Even though for married couples your spouse can claim on your Will until Divorce, you can still update your Will to say how your estate will be divided if there is no challenge to your Will. A Will can also be drafted in a way that acknowledges separation and may assist in defending any challenge to your Will.

Upon separation you should seek advice and update:-

Your Will
Superannuation beneficiaries
Powers of Attorney
Insurance and life insurance policies
Access to your personal information, social media accounts, and other accounts

Unless you update the above your ex-spouse will still receive the benefits granted to them by these documents regardless of the fact you have separated.

How does a Court work out Property Settlement divisions?

Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not 50/50 always. The Court has wide power to take into account many and various factors when working out an appropriate division of property.

There are five steps that the Court and lawyers look at when deciding an overall property settlement division:-

Whether property settlement should occur. Sometimes depending on the circumstances the Court might decide that no Court intervention is necessary and it is appropriate to just let things be.
If there is to be a property settlement the Court then goes on to consider:
Identification and valuation of assets, property, debts, liabilities, superannuation to calculate an overall property pool.
Considering the contributions to the relationship of each of the parties to the relationship.
Considering the future needs of the parties.
Looking at the overall justice and equity of the property division.

Identifying property by searches

Usually parties will be able to give a general (or sometimes very specific) picture of the assets and liabilities of the relationship. Where there is uncertainty a number of searches can be done to identify property including:-

Real property (house and land) searches
Company and business name searches
Motor vehicle searches
Land value searches
Personal Property Securities Register searches
Superannuation searches

Commonly these searches are used to confirm how property is held, which is a must when doing a final property settlement. Other times they will locate additional assets to be included in the overall property pool for division between the parties.

Is company and trust property included in property settlement?

If either party has an interest in a company, trust or other entity it should be considered and may be included in the property pool.

The general is test is whether the party has some degree of control and connection to the company or trust.

If one party runs the family business and all their income through a company and trust structure it is pretty easy to say this would be included. If there is a further step of separation such as the party only being a beneficiary under a trust held by third parties it can be a much more complicated enquiry (and legal advice is strongly recommended).

Third parties can in some situations be required to provide information and records to the Court, however this is a complicated process and has the risk of legal costs being payable to the third party if the Court decides their involvement was not appropriate, as such legal advice is strongly recommended.

What does disclosure mean in property settlement?

Before you can work out what you are entitled to, you need to know what you are dividing up. The process of disclosure in property settlement is the exchange of documents and information between both parties so that they are both aware of what each of them own and their circumstances.

There is a duty of full and frank disclosure in family law property settlement. This means telling the other person what your assets and liabilities are and providing information and documents that are relevant to the overall division of property settlement.

Disclosure means providing documents and information to the other party that are relevant to:

identifying and valuing assets and liabilities of the parties
the contributions of the parties
the future needs of the parties

The types of documents that disclosure usually includes are:-

Bank statements
Tax documents
Business documents (deeds, tax, searches, records)
Superannuation documents
Valuation documents
Motor vehicle/chattels
Real estate documents
Estate/inheritance documents

The list above is not exhaustive and basically and document or information that is relevant to a live issue in the property settlement should be disclosed.

For example

If there is a dispute about the value of a house and land that was purchased by one party in recent times, the relevant documents would extend to: any recent valuations or appraisals, the purchase documents and conveyancing file for the purchase, any information about recent comparable sales, any information about Council issues or other issues concerning the property.

What if I don’t give or receive full disclosure in property settlement?

Firstly, if you do not receive full disclosure of assets and liabilities you run the risk of receiving a settlement much less than your entitlements. It is important to consider where to draw the line and whether pursuing all documents through a Court process is likely to produce a more favourable outcome. Where there may be large non-disclosed assets disclosure should be obtained by Court Order and/or the issue of Subpoenas if documents are not freely given.

It is important to make full and frank disclosure to the other party because if you do not, the Court may in the future set aside or vary any property settlement for incomplete or misleading disclosure.

If the Court sets aside a property settlement agreement or property Order they will reassess an appropriate division , and will in many cases consider making a party who has failed to disclose pay the legal costs of the party that was disadvantaged.

The whole point of a property settlement agreement is finality and being able to move forward without fear of further action, so it is important to give full disclosure to prevent any future claims.

Do I have to get assets valued for property settlement?

If you and the other party agree on the value of assets or liabilities then valuations are not required in most circumstances.

That being said, if you are not sure on the value of an asset, obtaining a valuation can be very important in case it turns out the asset is worth much more than you thought.

Superannuation interests will need to have current valuations done in situations including:-

If there is to be a split of one party’s superannuation
If the superannuation interest is a defined benefit interest.

Defined benefit superannuation funds are common in defence force and government agencies. This is a particularly complicated area of property settlement and you should seek specific legal advice on this aspect if there is a defined benefit superannuation interest involved.

If there is disagreement on the value of assets or liabilities, a valuation is obtained to resolve the dispute.

Valuations should be obtained jointly with the involvement of both parties. If one party obtains a sole valuation it may remain a source of dispute; usually with further valuations then being obtained at further cost.

Commonly valuations are obtained in respect of real estate, motor vehicles, chattels and furniture, superannuation and business interests.

It can be useful to obtain real estate agent appraisals on property prior to incurring the cost of a valuation, as sometimes the parties will accept a middle value of real estate agent appraisals.

If you are not sure on the value of property, get it valued so that you do not receive less than you are entitled.

What does ‘contributions of the parties’ mean in property settlement?

The saying ‘you only get out what you put in’? It’s not the only factor in property settlement, but what you put into the relationship, or your contributions, does matter.

Contributions can be made at the start, during, or after the end of the relationship.

Contributions can be:-

Financial – including wages, business or other income, inheritances, personal injuries funds, interest, earnings on investment, lotto winnings etc.
Non –financial – including labour renovating a property, installing gardens for example or doing other work to increase the value of property or the overall property pool.
Homemaking and parenting.

Each party’s contributions are weighed up on their own merits. For example, if one person is the primary breadwinner of the family, and the other person is the primary homemaker and parent, both parties will generally be considered to have contributed equally.

In many cases, particularly in long relationships, the parties’ roles in the relationship may be different, however their overall contributions whether it be financial, non-financial or homemaking and parenting, may be considered overall equal.

In other cases, contributions are not considered equal. Some possible examples are:-

One party came into the relationship with substantially more assets than the other.
If one party was the primary breadwinner and primary homemaker and parent, while the other party was the primary couchsitter.
If the parents or relatives of one party provided substantial property to them that then was contributed to the property pool.
If there has been family violence committed against a party that effected their ability to contribute to the relationship.
Where a party has supported the other party’s children from a previous relationship.
If there has been wastage, gambling, intentional loss caused by one party.
If a party has made ongoing contributions to the care of children or paid their living/educational expenses after separation.
If a party has earned income or received property after separation.

The above are just some examples of situations where a contributions argument could be raised to say that contributions are not equal. The law says that there is no 50/50 starting point, and each party’s contributions should be assessed to calculate an appropriate contributions percentage.

How does a person’s future needs effect family law property settlement?

When people exit a relationship they can be left in very different circumstances. Deciding an appropriate overall property division involves looking at each party’s circumstances and future needs.

Some of the common circumstances that are taken into account are:-

Whether each party has the care of a child of the relationship
The age and health of each party
The income, property and resources of each party
The likely earning capacity of each party
The level of support each party may need

If the Court thinks there is an imbalance of any of the above they may adjust the overall division by an appropriate percentage.

For example

If one party has been the primary homemaker they may have not progressed their career and have a lower income earning capacity than the other. Depending on the difference of the likely future incomes of the parties the Court will adjust the overall property settlement division in favour of the lower earning party to assist them into the future.

What does ‘Just and Equitable’ mean in property settlement

The last step of deciding a property settlement division is looking at whether the overall result is just and equitable.

Just and equitable could be likened to appropriate, or reasonable in the all the circumstances, but it also means that the practical outcome of the division needs to be appropriate.

This means considering factors such as, do both parties have adequate living arrangements, do they have adequate access to funds, and are the levels of their superannuation appropriate?

The just and equitable step involves looking past the overall percentage of division (eg 45%/55%) and thinking about what each party actually gets and whether it is in their interests.

For example

One person has a large superannuation fund, there is a house being sold with sale funds soon to be available, and there are two motor vehicles. A practical result would be: each party takes a motor vehicle, the party with the large superannuation will split some superannuation to the other party, and then the cash proceeds of the house will be divided in a way to make sure both parties have adequate financial support taking into account their earning capacities and contributions.

What is spousal maintenance?

The Americans call it alimony. Basically it means that the spouse who earns more or has more assets, pays or transfers property to the other spouse if they are not able to support themselves to a reasonable standard of living.

To be eligible for spousal maintenance the claiming spouse must establish they cannot support themselves as a result of:-

Having the care of children of the relationship; OR
They are unable to obtain gainful employment by reason of age, physical or mental incapacity; OR
Any other adequate reason (as decided by the Court)

If it is established that the claiming spouse cannot support themselves for one of the reasons above, then the Court will look to working out the amount they need to support themselves by subtracting the costs of their reasonable needs from their income. It is important to note that for the purposes of calculating spousal maintenance, income from government benefits is excluded.

The Court will then assess the ability of the other party to pay spousal maintenance, by looking at their income less their reasonable expenses.

Therefore, the Court will only make a spousal maintenance Order after deciding that one party has a reasonable need for the maintenance to be paid, and the other has the ability to pay the maintenance.

There are other factors that the Court considers over and above the basic description above, and therefore if you are claiming or resisting a spousal maintenance claim you should seek legal advice.

Spousal maintenance can be made periodically (eg. weekly or monthly) or as a lump sum (a one off transfer of property or funds). Spousal maintenance can also be done as part of a property settlement or separately.

It is important to note that once a Court makes an Order for spousal maintenance it can in the future be varied by the Court.

How to settle without going to Court

Court is costly, time consuming, stressful, and quite unpleasant. Therefore we recommend attempting to resolve your matter by agreement prior to going to Court.

Once you are comfortable you know what property is to be divided, its value, and your general entitlements, you should attempt to reach agreement by:-

Discussions with the other party (if appropriate or amicable)
Exchanging written offers of settlement
Attending mediation or a conference (with or without lawyers)
Engaging lawyers to negotiate, collaborate, or exchange offers

If you are able to reach agreement, the agreement can be made final and binding by:-

Court Consent Orders: OR
A Binding Financial Agreement

When you are negotiating property settlement, thought should also be given to spousal maintenance. Any agreement for spousal maintenance, or agreement that no spousal maintenance will be paid, should be documented at the same time as property settlement.

What are Consent Orders?

Consent Orders are a Court Order made by agreement. If agreement is reached out of Court the parties fill out an Application, sign it, and send it into the Court. If the Court is satisfied the agreement of the parties is just and equitable the Court will make the Orders without the parties having to attend Court.

If the Court thinks the agreement is not just and equitable the Court will initially ask the parties for more information.

Many lawyers view Consent Orders as being preferable to a Financial Agreement as once the Court Order has been made it is at that point a binding document. If either party wishes to challenge the Consent Orders in the future they will have to persuade the Court as to why they should be set aside.

In many cases Consent Orders will also be cheaper to prepare as the parties to not both need to have lawyers to advise and sign off on the document.

The limitation of Consent Orders is that by law they cannot prohibit spousal maintenance. If a Court Order includes an Order for spousal maintenance it can be varied at a later time. The surest way to resolve spousal maintenance (or say it will never be paid) is by a Financial Agreement on the specific issue of spousal maintenance.

In many cases spousal maintenance will not be a live issue, however if it is, and Consent Orders are done for property settlement, the best course is a Financial Agreement on spousal maintenance that sits beside the property settlement Consent Orders.

What is a Financial Agreement?

A Financial Agreement is an agreement that is prepared to make property settlement and spousal maintenance arrangements final. It requires both parties to have a lawyer that will advise them and sign off on the agreement.

As mentioned above regarding Consent Orders, a Financial Agreement is the best way to confirm a spousal maintenance agreement.

The disadvantages of a Financial agreement are:-

As two lawyers and written advices are required the overall cost is in many cases higher; AND
As the agreement is not a Court Order, if in the future one party seeks to rely on or enforce the agreement they must first prove to the Court that it is in fact a binding agreement and that all requirements for the agreement were followed when it was signed.

If spousal maintenance is not a live issue, and the terms of the agreement are ones a Court would likely say are just and equitable, then usually Consent Orders are the preferable option as it is not necessary for a person to prove that Consent Orders are binding before relying on them in the future.

Requirements before applying to the Court

Unless an exception applies prior to applying to a Court for property settlement it is a requirement that the parties attend Mediation and send the other party a Notice of Intention to Commence Legal Proceedings.

Mediation is a process where a qualified mediator assists the parties to discuss issues and helps them to come to an agreement.

Generally, one of the parties contacts the mediator and the mediator will then invite both parties to participate in an intake, and then the mediation itself.

There are a number of government funded mediation centres – eg. Relationships Australia or Family Relationship Centre.

Additionally, there are private mediators who may be lawyers or Barristers. Fees for lawyer mediators are usually significantly higher than the government funded centres, however the wait time is also shorter.

As well as attending mediation, if you wish to commence legal proceedings you must first send the other party a Notice of Intention to Commence Legal Proceedings.

A Notice of Intention to Commence Legal Proceedings is a detailed document that sets out:-

1. Background information and facts.

2. The Issues in dispute.

3. A genuine offer of settlement/parenting proposal.

4. The Orders that would be sought if a Court application was to be made.

5. An invitation to attend mediation and copies of Court required documents.

The Notice must give the other party 14 days to respond, or 7 days in circumstances of urgency.

If you receive a Notice of Intention to Commence Legal Proceedings it is important to respond within 14 days, as if you do not the other party may simply commence legal proceedings without any further notice to you.

If a Notice of Intention to Commence Legal Proceedings is not sent prior to applying to the Court, or if you do not respond to a Notice, the Court may make adverse legal costs Orders against you.

What is the Court process for property settlement?

If you are unable to resolve your matter, or need urgent action to protect your interests, you may apply to the Court for the Court to decide your property settlement.

Most property settlement applications are made to the Federal Circuit Court, with only the more complicated ones or very high value cases being accepted by the Family Court.

The Family Court has a slightly different process and steps that are required prior to being entitled to start Court proceedings. As most matters go through the Federal Circuit Court this guide only explains the Federal Circuit Court process.

These are the basis stages through Court:-

Prepare and file an Initiating Application, Financial Statement and Affidavits by you and your witnesses.
The Court will then nominate a first Court date. Depending on urgency, the first Court date will be between a number of days, but more usually up to 3-4 months after your documents are filed.
At the first Court date the Court will consider any preliminary or urgent issues such as whether disclosure documents have been exchanged, if valuations are needed, injunctions and any other preliminary type issues raised by the parties.
If the Court is not satisfied that appropriate preparations have occurred the Court may adjourn the case to a further Directions Hearing or Compliance Court date.
Once disclosure, valuation, and preliminary issues have been resolved the Court will refer the parties to attend mediation or a conciliation conference.
At the mediation or conciliation conference you should discuss the issues and settlement options in detail as this is a strong opportunity to settle your case.
If the matter does not resolve at mediation or conference the Court will then list the matter for a Compliance and Readiness Hearing to check if previous Court Orders have been complied with and if the case is ready for a Trial.
If the Court is satisfied the case is ready for Trial, the Court will issue Trial directions (things to be done before Trial) and give a Trial date.
The parties prepare for Trial
Court Trial and final property division Orders made.

The above process can take anywhere from 9 months to 2 years (or more) depending on the caseload of the Court, the urgency of the matter, the number of issues the parties raise, the amount of information to be provided to the Court and other variables.

It is important to note that as soon as the parties agree the Court can make Consent Orders to end the Court process.

Important things to think about for property settlement

Before agreeing to property settlement, and before asking the Court to make Final Orders for property settlement, you need to think about the effect on your tax obligations, government benefits, pension entitlements, and other considerations. This guide is only intended to give general ideas for further legal advice, so we recommend tax, financial and legal advice, very strongly.

Your property settlement may affect your entitlements including:-

You may have to pay tax on the property you receive
Other unexpected tax obligations may arise
You may have to pay duty on property you receive (eg stamp/transfer duty)
By receiving property the level of government benefits you receive may be reduced or altered
By splitting your superannuation or pension entitlements this may very your entitlements in a way that you do not expect (pension splitting is very complicated and specific advice is required)
By splitting your superannuation below certain levels you may disentitle yourself to TPD or other benefits associated with your superannuation
By receiving property or an income stream it may affect child support
Other various effects that you need specific advice to cover.

Prior to signing any Order or agreement you should seek tax, financial and legal advice on the above factors and any other factors relevant to your case, as in most cases once the Orders are made or the agreement is done, it becomes final.

What are the tax/duty implications of property settlement?

This section comes with a huge, wide, and all encompassing disclaimer that you need to get legal, tax and financial advice based on your particular circumstances! There are complex rules regarding the payment of tax and duty on property settlements and whether tax or duty is payable will be different according to your circumstances.

Transfer/stamp duty: in many cases is not applicable to property transferred pursuant to a family Court Order or Financial Agreement if the property is transferred between spouses.

Capital Gains Tax: There is a general rule that if property is transferred pursuant to a family Court Order or Financial Agreement the Capital Gains Tax liability will rollover to the party receiving the property.

Company/trust property: There are very complicated tax rules about the tax that becomes payable, or does not become payable, when property is transferred between companies and trusts for property settlement. We will not even begin to explain when tax may or may not be payable, save to say that if your property settlement involves company/trust property you need to get specific taxation advice as there may be very significant tax obligations that result.

It is very important to know that if you seek any concessions or tax/duty reductions as a result of family Court Orders or Financial Agreements, the transfers of property must happen after the Orders or agreement becomes final.

At the risk of being overly repetitive, prior to agreeing to finalise your property settlement you should obtain tax, financial, and legal advice, and not rely on the general information provided in this guide.

Family or Domestic Violence

If family violence has occurred, you may apply to the Court for protection of you and your family. If you seek a Protection Order or an Application for an Order has been made it is important to seek legal advice.

If family violence has occurred in your relationship you may be able to seek an adjustment in your favour of the overall property settlement.

It is also possible to make a personal injury claim for physical or psychological injury as a result of family violence. There are strict time limits that apply, being three (3) years from the date of injury and a requirement to give Notice of a Claim as soon as possible.

Is that all?

No, that’s not all. This guide only scratches the surface of family property settlement law and process. While we have provided a practical and basic overview of property settlement considerations, we most strongly recommend you seek legal advice to make sure you get the best from your property settlement.

Millwater Tyrrell offers a free initial consultation with one of our partners where we will discuss your situation and provide you with advice tailored to the needs of you and your family.

For a more detailed and personalised discussion of anything in this guide please do not hesitate to contact one of our family lawyers for a chat.

Family Law GuideDavid MillwaterJuly 25, 2019Millwater Tyrrell LawProperty Settlement, Court process, Family Court