Legal Aid Queensland funds some people for their Family Court matters. At all of our offices, we undertake Legal Aid work in Brisbane, Strathpine and the Sunshine Coast. If you qualify for Legal Aid for your children’s matter, doesn’t it make sense to have a specialist Family Law firm on your side? If you want to apply for yourself, here is the link, but we are very happy to apply on your behalf.
We can lodge Legal Aid Applications online on your behalf. If you are unsure if you should apply for legal aid, talk to one of our friendly staff on and we will be able to give you an idea of your chances of success in obtaining a grant of Legal Aid. This is an obligation-free service we offer . Call us now on:
(07) 3832 5999 for Brisbane;
(07) 3205 9000 for Strathpine; or
(07) 5443 1120 for Maroochydore.
Hello,
I have been through a mediation conference and I signed a consent order, and so the did other side. Then I asked it to be changed because the consent order which was typed by the othersides lawyer which wasn’t what was agreed in the mediation. So the order was amended. Now I haven’t any draft copy, and it has been 1 and a half months since the order ws agreed. I had to sign the amended order aswell, but it never came back to me with the othersides signing. How long is it allowed to take to come back after a mediation has occured? Do they have to sign and send it back staright away? Am I entitled to my copy? And how long does it take to get proccessed through a court?
Hi Elle,
Lyn is away today so I am answering for her. Has the Minutes of order been filed in the Court? When you reach an agreement with another party and you wish to formalize this agreement into Consent Orders, you will need to file an Application for Consent Orders, A minute of Order and a filing fee. If you haven’t signed the amended Minute, then it most certainly would not have been filed. I would contact the other parties solicitor to ask them where the matter is up to and confirm that there is still an agreement which needs to be filed in the Court.
- Katherine Ross, Associate
hi. my housemate has just got out of a relationship with his girlfriend of 3 years. they have a 4 month old daughter, and she is refusing him any rights to see or be involved in her life becausr ‘shes the mother and she has more rights’. we realky dont want to go to court if we can prevent it. help?
Hi Stevie,
Lyn isn’t in today, so I am responding on her behalf. The first step prior to any body even thinking about attending Court is to go to Mediation. Relationships Australia offer a free mediation service where the parties can sit down with an independent third party and try and resolve their issues amicably. You can find out more details from the Relationships Australia website. http://www.relationships.org.au/. All the best.
- Katherine Ross, Associate
Hey. Me and my partner were thinking about buying a business together as he has one child already and pays child support to him. We were wondering if there is anyway around us not having to pay big amounts in child support as the money we do pay doesn’t go to the child at all.. But if my husband draws himself a wage from the business will they only take that into account or what the whole business makes?
Hi Kym,
Lyn is away today so I am answering for her. The idea behind child support is so that the child is provided for and can move between relatively equal households. Unfortunately, as you’ve discovered, sometimes money that is supposed to be for the child does not end up there. Unless there is a private agreement in place, there is very little you can do to regulate this and make sure the child receives it. With regards to your question, the CSA will look at the entire situation, not just the wage he draws for himself – they will also look at the profit the business makes and its expenses. There is an excellent calculator on the CSA website that might be able to help you with an understanding of what his possible child support payments will be. I’d also give the child support agency a call and talk to your case worker.
- Katherine Ross, Associate
Hi I have a 2 year old who father has nothing to do with her he has made no contact with me she has had no birthday Christmas present etc from him I moved away which he gave me written permission when she was 6 months old I was sending picture letting him no what she was doing but he stop contact last June I don’t even no where he lives or phone number he pays child support only because he has too anyway I would like full custody of her was wonderinf what my rights are and can I get full custody
Hi there Rachael.
To get sole custody of your child, you would need to get an order of the Court. Usually the courts don’t like to deprive a child of the care of one parent, even if that parent is a bit disinterested ( to say the least). Your daughter is only 2 years old, and may yet develop a relationship with her Dad. I think you have tried to encourage her Father to have an interest but he is not keen at this stage. the time that this becomes a big problem is if you need his permission as the other parent, for medical reasons or for a passport. If you are sure he is not going to be around, then you may be able to convince a court to give you sole parental responsibility for day to day matters and those big, long term matters like medical and education. The Court would want to be sure he is really not interested, though and he would need to be located in order for documents to be served on him to he can go to Court and respond to your application.
I take my hat off to you, raising this little girl on your own. She is lucky to have you caring for her.
Kind regards,Lynette
Hi we finished property settlement 18 months ago my ex has since remarried he started a business and was only earning 30,000 per year before he was earning over 88,000 I advised I would be putting in an application to have an adjustment made for partental support . He then acccussed me of stealing 35,000 and said he is taking me to court can he do this and under what circumstances
Hi Debbie, firstly I would like to apologise for the delay in replying due to the busy Christmas period. If an Order was made to finalise your property settlement matter it may be set aside by the Court upon the Application of a party. An Order may be set aside pursuant to section 79A of the Family Law Act, the reasons being summarised as: fraud, duress, suppression of evidence (for example, failing to disclose a particular asset), if a person has defaulted in carrying out their obligations pursuant to the Orders or the care of the children has substantially changed and it would be unfair not to vary the Orders. If your former partner is accusing you of not disclosing the existence of $35,000.00 this may be the basis for his Application to the Court to vary the Orders.
- Joshua Peters, Associate – Spring Hill Office
Hi
My husband and I are talking of separation. We have a 15 month old son. I have been a stay at home mum with him and to this day he has not spent a night away from me. My husband travels with work and is currently on a 7 on/7 off roster so he is only around our son every second week. My question is how does the courts view custody and visitation in these circumstances. My husband would want him 50/50 access but my understanding is that in view of his age, and attachment he would be better off living with me primarily. Can you please let me know what my rights are, and how old is a child usually when 50/50 access is appropriate?
Thankyou!
Hi Jules ,
In deciding to make a particular parenting order the court must have regard to the best interests of the child as the paramount consideration. In determining what is in the best interests of the child the court must consider the benefit to the child of having a meaningful relationship with both of the child’s parents; the need to protect the child from physical or psychological harm; the views of the child ( not relevant in this case with a child of such a young age );the nature of the relationship of the child with both parents; the willingness and ability of each parent to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing relationship between the child and the other parent; the likely effect of any changes in the child’s circumstances including the likely effect of any separation from either of his parents; the capacity of each of the parents to provide for the physical, emotional and intellectual needs of the child; the attitude to the child and the responsibilities of parenthood demonstrated by each parent : and any other fact or circumstance that the court thinks is relevant.
When all of these considerations are weighed and taken into account the court would be likely to conclude that a 15 month old child would be better off spending the majority of his time with his mother who is the primary attachment figure. Having a week about arrangement for a child of this age would be contrary to the child’s best interests and would be unlikely to be ordered. There is no hard and fast rule for at what age a week about arrangement might be appropriate. Children differ widely in their adaptability . Some can deal quiet easily with this type of arrangement whereas others have trouble coping.
- Don Gassner, Strathpine Lawyer
Hi There ,
What are the lasw regarding my ex taking children overseas to live that are aged 17 & 14 and i am meant to pay maintence but will not see??Thanks
Hi Rich,
It would be open to you to apply to the court to seek an injunction to prevent your ex from taking the children out of the Commonwealth of Australia without your written consent or an order of the court. Children are not elegible children for the purpose of the Australian child support legislation unless they are present in Australia on the day the child assessment is applied for or are ordinarily resident in Australia. However, if your spouse travels to a country which may be a reciprocating jurisdiction for the purpose of child support , an obligation on your part to pay maintenance or child support may arise. That obligation would not be dependent on whether or not you were seeing the children.
- Don Gassner, Strathpine Lawyer
I’m actually writing in regards to my friend. Him and his wife are currently separated. They have one child under the age of 6. He doesn’t pay child support, but buys everything for his child. He wants to know what his wife can make him pay for and if there is any way he can get on paper his visits and sleep overs his child has. His wife is a compulsive liar, so he is trying to look at the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to get something done quickly before she makes up more lies. She continually yells and swears at him no matter where it is. Can you please let me know what he can do so he has nothing to do with her, but still has rights to see his son and have his son on the weekends? Thanks Chris
Hello Christine
I suggest that your friend go onto the Child Support Agency website and try to use the Child Support Estimator thereon to estimate what his likely weekly or monthly child support obligation was likely to be in the event of a child support assessment being made in this case. That figure would be a good guide to the amount of financial support your friend should be providing on a voluntary basis to his ex partner for the maintenance of his child. It is unusal that the other party has not yet applied to the Child Support Agency for the making of a child support assessment.
There is no specified list of what he should or should not pay for and getting into any sort of discussion with the other party would appear to be an exercise in futility. Your friend should keep a diary and accurately record therein details of the dates and time which his son spends with him. That will be useful if a dispute about child support develops down the track.
- Don Gassner, Strathpine Lawyer
Hi Lynette,
My partner is separated for 11 months now he has a 7yo child lives with his ex wife.
he pays the house mortgage where he doesnt live in with but his ex and son lives on it, mortgage is $600/week. she is hounding the CSA to collect more money from him as child support, she doesnt work but she is fit and 47yo and my partner is 58yo.
CSA keep hounding him for the child payments as they only take 30% out of that mortgage hes paying for.the house is joint name but he pay 100% include her behalf but she still want more money. the problems are : my ex cant afford to pay that 600.00 + 275(CSA) and his rent 400.00.
hes been told by CSA one good officer said you only have to pay 275/week base on salary hes earning but his ex too greedy she want more.
he is willing to pay the 275/week but not at the top of the mortgage, the house in the market its been there for more than 6 months as she holds up the selling of the house.
Prior to this problem hes been paying 100%of all her bills, elec,gas,mobile,house phone, internet,her car,credit card which she spent 500-1000/month, and hes givin her 200/week at the top of everything and she receiving money from centrelink we cant just prove it how much but she said she got some allowance. she live like a queen until such time my partner cant afford to do that anymore, we went to CSA office both sydney and brisbane they shake thier heads and said hes too generous to do that, they told him to cut all the payments he only need to pay what he is supposed to pay and his well off covered by paying mortgage alone, then she ring CSA to collect child support form him.thats how CSA keep hounding him.
we seen 4 solicitors so far but it seems very slow and all it does it favours of hers.
she also stop him to see his son, she stop him getting close to his other sister and brother. what can we done for this.
our main concerned is the child’s welfare.
how can we apply for a shared or full custody, he is worried about his son?
Thanks Ms. D
Hi Mrs D,
The short answer is that the house needs to be sold, or the ex -partner needs to pay her own share of the mortgage. It is not a Child Support problem, but a property settlement problem , I suspect,
Kind Regards Lynette
I am curently going through family Court proceedings. I have two children, less than 5 years old and I am paying susbstantial Child Support, more than $1600 per month. I am also paying Spousal Maintenance another $1700 per month (as a result of a Court Order).
I have been unable to ascertain what is the rationale behind Spousal Maintenance and is it mandatory ? My ex does not intend on going back to work, I have access to my children one day a fortnight, for which I have to catch a commercial flight to see them. I would just like to know why I am paying Spouse Maintenance, do I have to, I can’t seem to get a definitive answer. My ex remains in the former matrimonial home and I have to rent elsewhere. I will never have an issue with Child Support, but Spouse Maintenance is a different issue.
Hi Stehen,
Spousal maintenance these days is only payable if and only if ( says the Family Law Act) the spouse cannot support hersef. Usually it is only for a short time if the court does order Spousal maintenance, for instance until the property settlement is done, or until the youngest child is a certain age or until the wife can retrain for a new career. I am unable to say more about your particular circumstances of course. As for the philosophy behind Spouse maintenance ( or alimony as the Americans call it, ) the philosophy is that the poorer spouse, usually the mother, has been inhibited in their capacity to develop their earning capacity because of the marriage, either through having kids, or through a decision of the couple to focus on one persons career over the others. In these cases,decisions about focussing on one person as the breadwinner and supporting that person are usually done with theexpectation that the lower income partner gets to share in the income of the earning partner, and on that basis the lower income partner is free to contribute to the family welfare in other, non financial ,ways.
When the marriage breaksdown, and the arrangement falls over, it would then be unfair for the higher income person to not assist with supporting his or her partner until such time as that balance has been redressed.
hi there my partner is self representing himself against false allegations his ex is making and she has stopped all contact he applied for legal aid and got refused as his assets are to high so disputed it has he is a small business owner and his assists are his business they sent him a letter it is getting reviewed by independent person what do you think his chances are
Hi, Stacey,
I suppose it is Legal Aid Queensland you are talking about? Well, I hope the appeal is successful; for you. I can’t say what your partner’s prospects are, really. But I wish him well. If he can’t get lleagal aid, maybe he could consider doing his Courtcase himself, getting help as he needs it. Our form offers this “unbundling” of legal services which means you dont have to have us do everything, but maybe just et us to check the Court Documents, or attend Court for you, while he looks after the rest of the case including allof the correspondence about minor things. Has he though of applying for legal aid for a legal aid conference? Sometin\mes the guidelines aren’t so strict for a conference. One good thing about a legal aid Conference is that if she is legally aided, and she shows herself to be making false allegations, legal aid may be withdrawn.
my son is paying child support for his daughter, the mother won’t allow him to keep in touch with his daughter at all. what rights does he have. He’s concern about her schooling, as he saw first hand that her two eldest children is not pressured to attend school. He wants to stop paying child support because he doesn’t think the money goes towards his daughter welll being. He wants to be able to look after her full time and see that she gets a good education. Does he have the right to take his daughter to better her education.
Hi.
In relation to seeing the child, in normal circumstances the father has a right to see the child and if the mother prevents this happening, then his option is to take her to court to force her to give access. The courts take a dim view of a mother stopping a child spending time with their father.
As for the child going to live with your son, a lot depends on the respective parents situations as well as the child’s age and also a number of other factors. My advice is that if your son really wants to pursue the issue, he should conatct a lawyer to commene proceedings for court orders to either has access to the child and/or have the child live with him. Once he sees a lawyer, they can advise him of his chances of having the child live with him.
With child support, that is an administrative process. The amount your son pays is based on the number of nights he has the child, and the parents respective incomes. If he is not having the child at all then he will be paying top rate. If he gets an order for the child to spend time with him, the amount he pays may well reduce. The Child Support Agency has a very informative website if you want more information.
In conclusion, my strong advice is that if your son wants to see the child more, he is going to have to go and see lawyer to force the mother to allow it.
hope this helps
Regards
Bryan
Journey Family Lawyers
Dear Bryan, You’ve been very helpful Thank you very much for your advice, I will pass it on to my son.
My husband has told me this week that he is leaving me, we have 3 children aged 21, 17,16 all still living in the family home, he has lived away for work for the past 2 years so was only home on weekends any way. We are yet to start discussions on our future but I know they will be separate my concer is the property and financial side, he isoniazid a very high income, with very little expended fo him self, I am int the family home on a low income, I am scared that he will remove financial support and I will not be able to cope financially. What is the process, we have been married 22 years, and not it is all over
Hello Sharon,
Thank you for your question. at the outset, I would say that the children are not going to be the subject of dispute because after all, once they are 18 years old, the Family Law Act doesn’t apply in terms of whether they spend time with one parent or another. Realistically by the time they are 16, as no doubt you know, they are busier than we are, and quite capable of making their own decisions!
So that brings me to you concern about the property and financial side. You sound to me that you would be in a position to ask the Husband for some sort of spouse maintenance, which you could get written into an order, to give you some protection. If he lives in Australia you can actually have the Child Support Agency collect that Spousal maintenance for you sometimes. Of Course, if your Husband is an Australian citizan for tax purposes you can ask the Child Support Agency to collect Child Support for your 2 children under the age of 18 until they turn 18 or finish grade 12 whichever is the later. Be careful, though, because if he is prepared to keep supporting you and the children anyway, an application to the Child Suppport Agency may upset him and he may only pay what the Agency asseses by way of Child Support, and none for spouse maintenance. You may then have to go to Court to get spouse maintenance and the Court would consider such things as your financial needs and inability to support yourself, and his capacity to pay. I don’t know enough about your case, but you need to find out what his intentions are and get any agreement formalised in Court Order or a binding financial agreement ( for spousal maintenance ) and a formal Child Support agreement for the kids. Your backup plan, if he refuses to sign anything, is to think about whether you are prepared to trust him without documents, knowing that if he baulks at paying for you or your kids under 18 in the future, you have a plan B, which is go to the Child Support Agency for an assessment for the kids, and go to Court for a Spouse Maintenance order for you, depending on your circumstances at the time. There is also such a thing as adult child maintenance if any of your kids need support going into university, but by and large the Family Court cases have shown the courts to be in favour of kids working their way through uni.
I haven’t addressed property settlement, but I invite you to send us an email or ring one of my Journey Lawyers on 07 3205900 or 38325999 to give more details and get specific advice. Don’t forget Superannuation is to be included!
Best wishes and kind regards, Lynette