by Sophie Newham | Jul 5, 2014 | Family
Where parentage of a child is an issue, an applicant may apply to the Family Court for a “parentage testing order”. Family Court will then be able to make a declaration as to the parentage of a child born where there is some doubt in regard to whom their parent is.
The court can order the child, the mother and any other person the court believes may assist in determining the parentage of a child, to undergo a parentage testing procedure, which invariably will be “DNA testing” due to its reliability and accuracy.
Parentage testing must comply with particular procedures set by the Family Law Regulations, therefore any results of testing performed outside of the ambit of family law requirements, may not be admissible to the court and consequently the results will have no legal validity when determining parentage.… Read More
by Clint Coles | Jun 28, 2014 | Uncategorised
There are a few circumstances in which the Roads and Maritime Service (RMS), or Road Transport Authority as they used to be called, can decide to suspend your driver’s licence.
These are the types of suspensions in which you receive a letter from the RMS in the mail, not the type where your licence is confiscated by a police officer.
Sometimes the decision of the RMS may appear to you to be harsh however, there may be good grounds for you to apply to the court to overturn it and have your licence suspension lifted.
The relevant provisions differentiate between provisional drivers, or P-platers and full licence holders.… Read More
by Terry Robinson | Jun 21, 2014 | Employment
It is not uncommon for an employer to place a restraint upon a departing employee which typically prevents the departing employee from being involved in a similar enterprise, contacting the past employer’s customers, utilising the employer’s confidential information and not poaching the employer’s employees.
In brief the law is that an employer must have a “legitimate interest” to protect and the reach of the post employment restraint must go no further than is reasonably necessary to protect that interest.
The Courts start from the premise that restraints are void, due to public policy. That is because a person should have the right to practice in his/her chosen occupation trade or profession.… Read More
by Keiran Breckenridge | Jun 14, 2014 | Business
Nobody wants to end up in a business dispute. They distract from your core purpose as a business person – running a viable business that gives you, your employees and your respective families their livelihoods. Business disputes are expensive and stressful for all involved. Sometimes though your business is under serious threat from your business partners, suppliers, customers or even your employees, and you just have to take decisive action.
Questions and statements then abound. What do I do next? I feel like a bunny in the headlights! What does the contract say about this mess? Where is the contract? It was just a handshake deal!… Read More
by Rebecca Greenland | Jun 7, 2014 | Wills & Estates
The rhetoric regarding the dangers of the “age of entitlement” recently espoused by politicians in relation to the Federal Budget has rung true in relation to a Family Provision Act case made in relation to a family farm.
The court proceedings involved the Will of Mr W, who had left three farming properties in western NSW to his daughter. The daughter had been a partner in the farming business with her father
One of the daughter’s sons, that is a grandson of Mr W, commenced a Family Provision Act claim challenging his grandfather’s Will and seeking an immediate inheritance from his grandfather.… Read More
by Rebecca Greenland | May 25, 2014 | Property
It is a well-known principle in New South Wales conveyancing law that there is no binding agreement for the sale & purchase of real estate until formal written contracts are exchanged.
A recent case concerning sale of farmland between neighbours sought to challenge this principle.
The case involved the sale of approximately 200 acres of grazing land by Ms N, to her neighbour, Mr H. Ms N offered the land to Mr H in a letter by way of a private sale without involving a real estate agent.
Mr H wrote to Ms N by email indicating he was interested in purchasing the 200 acres adjoining his property.… Read More
by Sara Burnheim | May 17, 2014 | Family
Many people probably do not know that when parties separate who have been in a de facto relationship, they only have 2 years from the date of separation to lodge an application with the Court to claim for their entitlements.
If you do not file any documents with the Court prior to the expiration of the 2 year time frame, you have to seek the Court’s permission to proceed which can be a costly and time consuming process.
The Court had to consider this in a most recent Family Court appeal decision of McCoy and Chancellor [2014] FamCAFC 62.
The background to this case was the parties were in a relationship for 23 years and separated in December 2010.… Read More
by Sophie Newham | May 10, 2014 | Family
Often, when parties decide to separate, one spouse decides to relocate in order to restart their life or to move to be with a new partner. When children move with the relocating spouse, be it interstate, overseas, or even to a new town or city down the road, recent case law suggests that judges are highly critical of parents who move their children without the other parent’s knowledge or consent.
The Family Law Act (1975) and accompanying regulations and rules, which govern family law practice in Australian society, does not explicitly state how the courts must deal with relocation issues. Consequently, there is no rule against the relocation of children, yet the court applies the same principles as it would in determining parenting cases. … Read More
by Keiran Breckenridge | May 3, 2014 | Employment
Keiran Breckenridge, our Special Counsel, reports on a recent case industrial/employment law case.
Two unrelated companies gave certain employees $300 gift cards for working through a union strike. But their gifts came back to bite.
The union took the companies to the Federal Court and argued that the failure to give gift cards to the striking employees amounted to the companies injuring the employees who went on strike and/or discriminating between employees based on who went on strike or not, all for simply exercising their workplace rights. The union claimed that the companies breached s.340 of the Fair Work Act 2009, which prohibits the taking of ‘adverse action’ against an employee because he or she has exercised a workplace right.… Read More
by Lesley McDonnell | Apr 26, 2014 | Wills & Estates
“[T]he complexity which attaches to family relationships” is never more apparent than in the arena of family provision cases. For one Queensland family “the bonds of family life were tested to extremes”, leaving some of the children “hurt and resentful by the actions of their father [the deceased]”. This case is significant because it is the largest provision order made ($3,000,000) by a Queensland Court to date.
The deceased died in 2010 aged 78 years leaving a will made in 2000 and codicil in 2008. The deceased left behind a wife and children and a $27,000,000 estate. The applicant in this case was Steven, a son of the deceased.… Read More
