What happens in Family Law Property Matters

Property matters in Family Law refer to the situations sorting our dividing the property between partners or spouses after separation.

This includes for both married and defacto couples, including same-sex couples.

The vast majority of couples who separate are able to reach an agreement on how to divide their property without having to go to court. Sometimes a couple will reach agreement between themselves and one party will have OFRM prepare the documents to reflect their agreement.  More often, a couple will each engage their own lawyers to provide advice on what would be an appropriate division and then through lawyers negotiate the agreement.

Mediation can often be useful to try and resolve a matter by having the parties and their lawyers meet with a mediator experienced in family law matters to try and reach agreement. 

Sometimes, it is necessary for family law property matters to go to court.  That might be because urgent orders are needed to preserve some of the assets.  It might be because there is a tricky legal situation involved.  It could just be because someone is holding an unrealistic view. 

Starting family law proceedings for a property settlement doesn’t mean that a judge is definitely going to decide who gets what in your family law matter.  Commencing proceedings is more like hopping on a conveyor heading towards a judge making the final decision -  along the way you may reach agreement and jump off that conveyor.

In a future blog post, I’ll explain more about the different steps in family law property proceedings.