I am no stranger to the Family Law Court, but it has been nearly 30 years since my last visit. It is not a place I recommend, as it is another place where sadness occurs and often sanity does not prevail.
I expect that others on BBlitz have had some experiences with the Family Law system, and I am the last bloke to judge anyone on anything to do with it. However I am preparing today to help my Sister who is going through a property settlement and custody matter for her 13 year old son with her partner of the last 22 years. He left about 16 months ago, went to Asia and now has a new baby. There house has been sold, but all the money is sitting in a Lawyers trust account because the Partner is claiming 60% of everything including her super and wants nothing to do with his Son or pay any child support.
What I would like to share are some details on his claim and Mrs Fox and I are not sure whether to laugh or just get angry. Now when you are going through a matter like this, you need to disclose all your financials and details of the past, and his are just bizarre.
He has been living in Laos for the past 16 months and not working, no income and as there is no agreement between Laos and Australia the Child Support Agency are not interested in knowing about him. It seems he has been living on loans from family, totalling nearly $50,000. In his financial claim, he has included this $50,000 as part of a settlement, which means that he is asking for his ex-Partner and their son to pay 55% of this amount to him. I just find it absurd that a Lawyer would even put this in a claim to the Family Court, but it is in black and white that he wants them to pay for his “holiday” in Asia.
I reckon some of you have seen worse, but not me. Anyway I will keep myself nice tomorrow and not find any large Tongan chaps to shatter bones, I just needed to share my frustration of some blokes giving the rest of us a worse name than we have.
How does he afford a lawyer if he is so destitute? My understanding is that legal aid does not extend to financial settlements. You might want to do some digging whether it is one of those no win no fee, or if lawyer gets some of the financial outcome of a settlement
I’ve had no direct experience in the system, but if his sisters are paying his legal fees and he is asking for that amount also, you might want to check whether the Family Court awards legal costs.
That is beyond comprehension. Outrageous financial claims aside, how on earth can this man bring up his son for 12 odd years and then not want to see him or contribute to his upbringing? I hope your nephew is ok, that’s a lot for a kid to deal with.
Bacchus, with all due respect, it’s not a good idea to post something like that. Family Court matters are always complicated, and there are always two sides to a story.
All you’re going to achieve by this is some expressions of outrage by persons who know only what you’ve told them and whose opinions are therefore worthless, plus the posting of various other tales of perceived injustice by individuals who consider themselves badly done by.
Which is all very well if you want to indulge yourself, but it’s a complete waste of time and will achieve precisely nothing.
There is a good reason why many do not like Lawyers. They think that theirs is the only opinion worth anything.
Actually Family Court matters should be very simple, and that is why there was a Family Law Act 1975; to eliminate blame and emotion and Lawyers. Seems to have morphed into a different beast 40 years later.
Dear Bacchus
Well, your case caught my attention because I live in Laos and have a Bacchus continually spouting at the other side of my pond. So I guess that I shall be looking out for an Australian who has been living here for 16 months, is unemployed, appears to live well and has a very new child in his family.
For your information, any foreigner coming to Laos and taking up with a Lao woman is not allowed, by law, to enter into an intimate relationship with her unless they are married. The penalty for breaking that law is a fine of US$ 5,000 and/or a period in jail. So, your erstwhile b-in-l would have had to marry this lady, if she is Lao, and to do that can take a very long time, because he has to produce a mountain of documentation in for the purpose, including a certificate (such as a decree absolute) showing that he is free to marry, a load of documents showing that he is is in financial good standing, a certificate of no criminal record in his home country and many, many other things. It can take up to two years to get permission to marry a Lao citizen, if you are a foreigner. It seems unlikely that, in the time he has had here, and given that the evidence is that intimacy started at least nine months ago (unless he has taken pity on some poor soul who got knocked up prior to his meeting her), that he will have been able to do that. So, he should be in jail. Or perhaps he will add that US$ 5,000 to the $50,000 claim.
I only know about financial matters.
My advice is look at what you want as a minimum, if you get close enough to 100k away from it, well take it and run.
Will cost you that in time and money even with average legal representation, more if you have quite an estate to argue over. And no outcome is guaranteed at court.
My ex walked away with probably 200k of money she knows she didnt tip in to our relationship. My advice was it didnt matter, there is a range the family law courts work in.
And the best advice my lawyer gave. Keep your assets in your own name you want to keep and get a prenup.
I would suggest to anyone in a happy relationship to have a money talk and work out an arrangement if something happens to your relationship. Relationships can be fragile things, make it stronger by having mutual respect whilst you can.
Ah and a proper money talk is a good way to determine if you actually have a relationship. End the relationship if you dont find yourself on the same page and comfortable to even put in writing after 2 years.
Many people live in a fantasy world. I know i did and used cognitive dissonance to get over it.
Don’t like your partners attitude to money? Go see a family lawyer for some advice.