This website is for people who are facing Divorce or separation and want to find out as much as they can to help them through. My firm is Journey Family Lawyers, who are specialist Family and Divorce Lawyers in Queensland. They have their own website at www.journeyfamilylawyers.com.au. This is a divorce blog where you can comment and ask questions about your marriage property settlement or children custody problems.
I hope you can find the answers to your divorce issues here, if not please email us at enquiries@journeyfamilylawyers.com.au or comment on the blog or phone us on (07) 3832 5999 and we will get back to you so you can know where you stand. Don’t forget we offer free 10 minute consultations by phone too, or one hour for $143.00. I am still slogging away on my book, Divorce a new users guide, and will post bits of it from time to time. The good news is that the book should be ready for publication mid 2013, if I can keep up the pace of writing, that is!
Regards Lynette Galvin
Good morning
Little lost and hope you can help…
Still with my husband. we have a little two year old girl together.
I’m still with him cause don’t know.where to go what to so.
He has total control. I’m from germany and have no friends or support.
If it comes to a split am I able to return to my.family and friends in germany?
Even if he doesn’t agree? What.are my options?
Warm regards and thanks for your time
Yvonne,
Hi.
A child at the age of two normally stays with the mother and the father is able to “spend time” with the child. How much time the father can spend with the child depends on his previous involvement and time he has cared for the child in the past.
If you want to take the child back to Germany, the law says you should firstly apply for permission to go there. In your case you would argue that you have no family or support. It is up to the judge to make the final decision and they look at the detailed circumstances surrounding your situation and that of the father.
If you have limited funds, you can apply for Legal aid for childrens matters and we would recommend you do that as soon as you are able, normally within a short period of leaving your husband.
There are other issues dealing with the practicalities of leaving your home, finding alternative arrangements and so on. There are church and other organisations who can give you some assistance and you should have that aspect lined up before you leave the home, ideally.
If you have specific questions, we offer a free ten minute telephone consultations. Our main office number is 38325999.
I hope this is of some assistance; let us know if we can assist further.
Hi
my Husband and i seperated in November last year , 2 weeks after i lost my job.
he works in the mines and is away most of the time,
he has still been supporting me and paying the bills etc till im on my feet again with work.
he wants to buy a block of land in Mackay and use the equity from the house for a deposit,, this means i have to sign the papers etc for him to do so.
In return he says i can stay in the house and he will continue to pay the mortgage etc till im on my feet and try to get in a border or someone to rent half the house
The house isnt worth putting on the market at the moment and i really dont want to sell.
we want to try and keep it as amicable as we can , we were together for 31 years and married for 25 with 2 grown up children who have their own places.
i have had so many people telling me to do this to do that -all with revenge attitudes, it doesnt help me at all.
just not sure what to do.
Cheers
Sandra
Hi Sandra, Even though your situation is somewhat unusual, I believe it is possible to have your agreement written up as Consent Orders and sealed by the Court to protect both your interests. Even though you are not planning to sell everything and divide it at this stage, you can make long-term arrangements for that, ultimately, to happen at a time of your choosing. I know a lot of Lawyers think that this offends s81 of the Family Law Act which basically states that you should finalise arrangements between you both but it is possible to do and you need to see a Lawyer who is capable of the complex drafting that will be required. If you can’t find one locally and would like you use my firm, we have many clients in other regions and can arrange pretty well everything by email and post.
My firm offers a free ten-minute consultation over the phone with a lawyer should you wish to discuss this matter with Journey Family Lawyers on a preliminary, no-obligation basis. The number for our head office is (07) 3832 5999.
All the best.
I have a 2 year old and 4 year old and a baby due in 6 weeks. My husband and I recently separated although currently still live in the same house as I have no other family support and so it is really for convenience.
We want to keep it civilised at least for the time being and would like to work on an agreement that suits all. I am aware we will need to split out assets and sell – house, car etc to do so. but I also read about a parenting plan we might be able to put in place to make things a bit smoother?.
There is so much to know and do – where do we begin?
Dear Janna,
I hear you! It is so daunting, that the only way to think of it is one step at a time, and short term first, then long term.
So, in the short term work out what you need to do to live. Then focus on the long term. You can call us for a free 10 minute phone interview with an experienced family lawyer who will answer your questions , and you can also call and book an hour long appointment for $99.00 ( just for you) to get your personalised case plan. ( This can be done by phone) .Call us on 07 38325999. I’m writing my book Divorce and Separation, A New Users Guide, for people like you who are just separating but it is not finished yet. Sorry that I have taken a while to answer but the bad weather has been a problem.
Hi
So my defacto and i have a 4 year old son and i am pregnant again, over the last week he and i have seperated, last night i told him that i have been given 4 weeks leave from work and that i was coming down to stay with my mother to have my family support ( my family live about 1.5hrs away) i told him that i wanted to do 50/50 care with our son in the mean time and could have him for 1 week each. he instantly refused and carried on in the end i had to leave with only a bag of clothes , no car and no child. he said that he will not let me have brayden in my care while im here and that if i want to see him i have to go back there and see him.
he said that if was to use the car or take my boy for a week he would contact the police and have me charged.
he is very mind controlling and has me caught at every exit as all our assests are in his name however all finances are in both our names.
does leaving my son there while i came down here ( for my own wellbeing i couldnt be in the house with him anymore and i had no family and only 1 supportive friend in the home town) affect my chances of seeing my baby boy regularly and or if nessesary getting custody.
Do i lose everything as its in his name?
Oh, Amy,
You sound like you have really been through it! I hope you are looking after yourself and your new baby , and I will try to set your mind at ease over Brayden and your finances. You know it is too much to answer all at once on this blog so I will give a short answer.
Firstly, as long as you don’t take too long to get your shared care arrangement in place, you have as good a chance as if you never left the town of having shared care of Brayden. If you leave Brayden there too long, say months, without seeing you, then you could harm your chances. I wonder if you are eligible for legal aid? In Queensland, you have to wait 6 weeks from separation before you can get legal aid to go to a conference or to go to Court. I suggest that if you cant afford a lawyer in the meantime that you write a letter to your ex and say that you want to either have shared care, or have Brayden in your full time care. Ask him to attend mediation at a Family Mediation Centre with you as this is the first step to either getting an agreement or going to Court. you can find details of Family Relationship Centres on the web here
As for your finances, there is nothing that cannot be sorted out by agreement or in Court. So contact legal aid or telephone Journey Family Lawyers on 07 38325999 for a free 10 minute chat about your finances. The law does not take much notice of whose name assets and debts are in when it comes to sorting out finances form a relationship where children are involved.
I think everything will be alright as long as you act quickly and get advice as soon as possible.
I hope that helps and try not to worry, regards Lynette