Making arrangements for your children is one of the most important decisions you will make in any separation. The needs of children and family dynamics are unique to every family.

We will assist you to navigate your co-parenting arrangements in a way that:

• promotes safety for yourself and your children;
• provides an amicable and respectful co-parenting arrangement (where possible);
• is appropriately tailored to the unique needs of your family.  

Where you are dealing with challenging family dynamics such as family violence, narcissism and/or children or parents with special needs we will develop parenting arrangements, with the assistance of appropriate experts to best suit your family.   

Child Support is governed and collected via the Child Support Agency which is run by the Australian Government.    In most circumstances, the payments, which are calculated using a formula established by the Child Support Agency are mandatory and based on the taxable income of the parents and the nights in care.   It is possible to have private arrangements or to “contract out” of the Australian Government Child Support obligations.      

We can assist you with the preparation and advice about private child support agreements which can deal with private collection, alternative periodic maintenance, children’s expenses such as education, medical and extra-curricular costs.   

Domestic or Family Violence is an element considered in all aspects of family law proceedings.   We can assist you with applying for or defending an Application for Protection Orders and also provide referrals and advice around a safety plan or rehabilitation for offenders.  

Family Violence can include physical, verbal, emotional, financial abuse, threats or stalking by a party to a relationship or member of the family of a party to the relationship.   If you are experiencing family violence please call 000 for urgent assistance.   

We can advise, guide and represent you in Federal Circuit Court, Family Court and Domestic Violence proceedings about family law issues (property settlement, parenting arrangements, domestic violence). 

At Future Family Law court proceedings are used as a last resort.  We understand that court proceedings promote and escalate conflict and animosity between waring parties.   In saying that, there are circumstances where court proceedings may be necessary (by choice or compulsion) or part of the strategy to engage an unwilling or unco-operative party.   We can and will guide you through the court process and keep you fully informed about and advised about strategies you can implement to put an end to the court battle and resolve the dispute.   We also help you to assess the timeframes, emotional and financial costs of court proceedings against other alternative dispute resolution options which will present themselves at various stages of your matter.

Already have a lawyer but not sure if you are heading in the right direction – we can assist with a second opinion and strategy meeting.

If you have the confidence to handle your negotiations and court proceedings yourself but need some guidance along the way about the discrete issues we can help you with this. 

Family law issues don’t always just impact the immediate parties to the relationship.  Often grandparents, step parents or other family members are directly involved in the care of children or provision of financial assistance.   The rights of third parties vary depending on circumstances. We can assist and advise third parties who have been directly or indirectly impacted by a family separation.  Some examples of how we can assist third parties with family law issues are as follows:

• Grandparent rights – assisting grandparents or other family members to establish the legal right to spend time with the children of the relationship where this is not being facilitated by one or both parents.
• Third party parenting rights – modern families are unique and not constrained to conventional family dynamics, if you have been actively involved in the life of a child and wish to maintain that connection following separation of the parents you may have a right to pursue court orders confirming this right. We can assist and advise you about this process.
• Financial Contributions and/or family loans – if you have provided financial assistance to a friend or family member who is involved in a family law separation and you are worried about your right to recover your loan or gift, we can assist and advise you in the recovery of these funds from the separated parties to the relationship.