Family Law

Family is a very expensive area for parties.  Mr Riddell can provide cost effective solutions and will personally attend to your matter.  

We will advise you as to your rights and responsibilities, help achieve a positive outcome in matters involving division and settlement of property, divorce, separation, financial agreements, de facto relationships, child custody, and child support.

There is no presumption in Australian law that marital assets must be divided equally between husband and wife, rather there is powers for the Family Court to make orders for the just and equitable division of assets. 

Firstly, the Court will determine whether it should alter property interests.  Following that determination, the Court will follow a 4 set process:  

  • Step 1: All assets and liabilities are identified. 
  • Step 2: identification of any contributions each party has made to assets.  This includes not only financial contributions but also non-financial contributions.  Contributions are defined as the acquisition, preservation, improvement or maintenance.  
  •  Step 3: Are any adjustments required to be made taking into account the future needs of each part?.  These future needs consider care of children, disparity in income earning capacity, health, age, and availability of financial resources.  
  • Step 4: Is the proposed asset division just and equitable?  

These assets are not excluded but if deemed to be significant, “credit” is given to the part who was responsible for bringing the asset into the marriage.  

Yes – where the actions or conduct of one spouse makes the other spouse’s contributions significantly more difficult than they should have been, then this can result in that party obtaining a greater share of the assets.