Family Law

White Barnes offers a full range of Family Law advice and services to clients whether they are married or in a Defacto relationship including: Divorce, property settlements/disputes, children's matters/disputes, child support and spouse maintenance.

Vanessa Steinfelder is an experienced practitioner dealing in all aspects of Family Law and Defacto law. She has been with the firm for 9 years and has broad litigation experience in this area. Vanessa can assist you in providing straight forward, practical, legal advice and services in all aspects of Family Law matters.

As a firm, White Barnes focuses on a policy of open communication and ensuring that what is often a difficult, stressful and uncertain time for clients is addressed with understanding, integrity and sensitivity - without compromising our high professional standards to ensure our clients are provided with the best possible advice and are kept informed of the progress in their matter.

Divorce

Divorces are generally thought of as straight forward however if you have children under the age of 18 and/or your separation is not amicable it can be very important to discuss with your lawyer the requirements to be met before an application can be made for a divorce.

It is important to note that if you have applied for a divorce or if a divorce has been finalised with the Family Court, you only have 12 months from the decree absolute being made to either file proceedings for property settlement and/or file Consent Orders as to the distribution of property.

We can assist you in understanding and meeting your rights and obligations associated with Divorce proceedings.

Pre-Action Steps

With limited exceptions, parties involved in family law disputes must participate in pre-action settlement negotiations including the early exchange of a wide range of financial and other documentation. Failure to participate may prevent the filing of an application with the Court and/or may result in serious cost consequences for the non-participating party.

In children's matters, parties must no participate in Alternative dispute resolution with a registered family dispute resolution practitioner - and provide a certificate as evidence of same, before commencing proceedings.

White Barnes can assist clients in participating in this process providing early advice, referrals and assistance to clients to ensure they understand their rights and obligations during these compulsory processes and achieve early settlement where possible.

Property Disputes

This is a continually evolving are of the law. There are a number of steps that are applied in considering what parties may be entitled to following the breakdown of a relationship. There are sometimes formal valuations to obtain (regarding superannuation or the value of a business).

We can assist parties who find themselves in a dispute about the distribution of property understand their rights, how the law may be applied to their situation and to negotiate a settlement or proceed to file proceedings with the Court as may be necessary.

We have considerable experience in litigation and have strong relationships with specialist Family law barristers, accountants, business valuers and other experts to assist us in supporting our litigation practice for Family law clients.

Children's Matters

In probably 1/3rd of cases, parents who have separated are initially unable to agree about the arrangements for their children. It can be hard to talk directly about such matters with a former spouse and these matters can be hotly contested and very emotive. White Barnes is experienced in assisting parents in putting their case for living arrangements and/or to spend time with their children, forward and in drafting orders and parenting agreements that are workable.

If you cannot agree, White Barnes can assist you in explaining the Court processes such as compulsory counseling and the Less Adversarial Trial program, arrange alternative dispute resolution and if necessary conduct litigation on your behalf.

We can also assist grand parents and relatives who wish to spend time with children, apply to the Court for orders.

If you cannot agree about a specific issue such as applying for a passport, what school your child should attend or whether a parent is permitted to re-locate with a child, White Barnes is similarly able to advise and assist you in making trying to reach agreement or making an application with the Court.

Defacto Relationships

Defacto relationships are more common than ever. The affairs and legalities of defacto matters have traditionally been dealt with by the District and Supreme Courts and for some people this arrangement will still apply. However, the Federal Government has recently introduced changes to permit Defacto couples to apply to the Federal Courts (Family Court and Federal Magistrates Court) for orders relating to property. It is also amending the law to bring equality to the way the law is applied between Defacto and married couples. These changes will come into effect in 2009.

White Barnes can assist clients who have been in defacto relationships to navigate this new process and can provide legal advice and assistance in negotiating and settling such disputes and if necessary commencing proceedings.

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