Marshalls & Dent  Family Lawyers

The information here provided for the benefit of the non-lawyer, whether or not you are a client of Marshalls and Dent. It is our view that the better informed people are, the better instructions they can give to their lawyer. This results in better, more precise advice, and helps the speedier resolution of family law cases. There is also likely to be a significant saving in legal costs as well. If there is any information you feel should be included here, please email us.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Marshalls and Dent - The Firm

The Firm Website.

Contact us at
Level 13
459 Little Collins St
Melbourne Victoria Australia 3000

Phone 03 96705000
Fax 03 96420409
email office@mdlaw.com.au
 

Client Notes

These are the notes we give our clients at the first interview. They are available either in HTML format on line, or in PDF format for downloading. Topics covered are as follows:

Separation
Divorce
Financial and Children's Issues do not have to wait til you are divorced
Children
Contact
Counselling
Child_support
Property_settlement
Spousal_maintenance
Injunctions
Intervention_orders
Wills
Changing_names
Passports
Court Proceedings are confidential
Family_court_procedures

• affidavits
• witnesses
• discovery

The_Court_Process
Appearances_at_Court
Defacto_couples
Legal Costs
Communicating_with_your_lawyer
Court_pamphlets_and_documents
Our People
Communicating with us using email
 
 
 

Other information for Clients

Family Court of Australia- Information on the site for clients
Family Court Forms
Child Support Agency
Legal Aid Sites
Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages
 

The Family Court Site has a wealth of information for clients covering the following topics:
 

• Child Abduction
• Child Abuse
• Child Support
• Children
• Complaints
• Consent Orders
• Dispute Resolution Services
• Divorce
• Enforcement
• Ethnic Communities, Service for
• Family Violence
• Fees & Costs
• Financial Support
• Help
• Indigenous People
• Interpreters
• Legal Advice
• Medical Procedures, Special
• Money Matters
• Parent's Guide
• Privacy
• Separation
• Supervised contact and contact centres

There is also a full list of pages coveing the above in more detail.

There is an excellent page entitled Managing Your Case, where a summary of  steps is given under the headings:

Likely steps
Types of Services

Information sessions

Filing an application

Conciliation counselling

Directions hearing

Conciliation in financial matters

Pre-hearing conference

Final hearing

Common Court forms
Service of documents
Service by post (for divorce application)
Service by personal delivery (for divorce application)
Serving a subpoena
Proof of service
Preparing for a hearing
The pre-hearing conference

• What to do before the pre-hearing conference
• What happens when a date is set for a final hearing?

The final hearing

• Affidavits, evidence and witnesses
• What if a person who can help you won't come to court?
• Questioning a witness
• Guidelines for managing your case
• Family or expert's report has been prepared?
• What if there is a child's representative

What to do in court
Orders and decrees
Appeals

The site is well worth a  visit.
 

A Guide to Legal Terms is also on that site, which is of great assistance for the lay person. The following terms are covered:
 
 
 
 
 

Administrative adjournment  Address for service  Affidavit  Applicant  Adjournment  Appeal  Case Management Guidelines  Certified Copy  Child's Representative  Commonwealth Evidence Act  Compliance  Contested list clerk  Consent orders  Contact  Court counsellors  Counselling  Deputy registrars  Directions hearing  Discovery  Family Report  Family Law Act  Family Law Rules

Filing  Full Court  Hearing date  In chambers  Intervener  Interim and procedural applications  Interim and procedural orders  Joint conciliation conference  Judge  Judgment  Judicial duty list  Judicial registrar  Leave to appeal  Legal proceedings  Mediation  Minutes of Consent Orders  Negotiation  Notice to admit facts  Notice to produce  Overlist ratio  Parental responsibility

Parenting Plans  Parties  Precedent  Pre-hearing conference Primary Dispute Resolution (PDR) services Procedural orders  Registrar Registrar lists  Residence  Respondent  Rules  Sealed copy  Service (of documents)  Specific issues  Specific questions  Spouse  Spousal maintenance  Subpoena  Transfer  Transcript  Witness

Family Court Forms

The court provides all of its forms on line. They can be downloaded in what is known as PDF Format. This is the Internet standard way of making documents available.The forms are available in both interactive and non interactive formats. The interactive document can be filled in on line BUT the information you type in them cannot be saved unless you have the full version of Adobe Acrobat. The non-interactive version is simply printed out and hand filled. You can get the required form, hand complete it and send it to your lawyer to save time completing them. The Reader is free. Make sure you have the latest version - 4. Read the information on the Family Court site about PDF format documents.

FAQ - Divorce- refer to what Peter Szabo has to say on these topics. Deals with common questions about divorce. Note a major update is that the filing fee is halved if you file your divorce in the Federal Magistrates Court.

FAQ - Getting separated  - commentary by  Peter Szabo.  Deals with commonly asked questions regarding children, contents and property issues.

Child Support Agency

The Official Site. A wealth of information on the Child Support Scheme. It also has the Child Support Calculator on line, so you can work out what level of child support should be paid/received by you. In many cases, the Basic Calculator will give you the figure you need. Howver, be careful to check whether you fall within the exceptions, such as shared residence, substantial contact and the like. Legal advice is recommended in these cases. You should make a formal application for child support to obtain the correct figure. Application forms are available on line, (Form 101), as are the other forms published by the Agency. It is common for parents to agree to register a child support agreement. A standard form agreement (Form102) is available from the Agency site. Legal advice is strongly recommended before you exectute such a document.

This site has links to other sites of interest, including:

Family and Community Services
Family Assistance Office
Australian Taxation Office
Centrelink
Attorney General's Department
 Family Court of Australia
Councils of Social Service
Social Security Appeals Tribunal
 

Registrars of Births Deaths and Marriages in Australia.

When you need a marriage or birth certificate, you can obtain one from the relevant State Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Check the Australasian Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages, which will give the relevant details for your State. For example, in Victoria, the standard fee for an extract of a  marriage certficate is $17.50 (July 2002). The application form for Victoria is available on line in pdf format. It must be printed and completed by hand. Alternatively, you can apply for a certificate on line. Other States have similar information.

Legal Aid Sites - NSW and Victoria

The Victoria Legal Aid Commission Site has a wealth of information. In particular they publish a book entitled "You and Family Law" available on line as well, which covers the following topics (with sub headings set out):

Relationship Breakdown
The Courts

The Family Court of Australia
The Magistrates' Court

(The Federal Magistrates Court is NOT mentioned here.)

Counselling

What is counselling?
Who provides counselling?
In rural areas
What if there is violence?
Can children go to counselling?
When can I have counselling?
Is counselling confidential?
Family reports
Should I get legal advice before counselling?

Mediation

What is mediation?
Who provides mediation?
Can children go to mediation?
When can I have mediation?
When may mediation not be appropriate?
Is mediation confidential?
Should I get legal advice before mediation?
What is the difference between conciliation counselling and mediation?

Separation
Divorce
Spousal Maintenance

Defacto Relationships
Same Sex Relationships
Family Violence

What is Family violence?
What can I do?
Urgent protection
The police

A booklet on Applying for an Intervention order is available on this site, as is one on Responding to an Intervention Order. These booklets are in PDF format and you need the (free) Acrobat Reader on your computer to read them.

Legal Advice
Using a Lawyer
Interpreters

 

The Legal Aid Commission of New South Wales Site also covers many issues under the following headings:
note - some information is out of date - eg reference to form 7 for applications - should be to Form 3 - see my updates page to get the updated information

Do it Yourself Divorce Classes
(also refer to the Family Court Practice Manual Online - it covers Divorce in Chapter 2)

Family Law: Frequently Asked Questions
These  are covered under the following headings:

just separated
grandparents' rights
parents' rights
children's rights
moving house
moving out
contact order
child support
property
divorce
surnames
contact points

Separate representation of children - Childrens' information
Separate representation of children - Parents' information
Trying to Reach a Property Settlement? A Plain English Guide

What to do if you have been sent a document called " Contravention of a Child Order"
This is explained under the following headings:

what does the document mean?
what court order does the applicant say that I have contravened?
how does the applicant say that I have contravened the order?
what do I have to do to contravene an order?
what is a reasonable excuse?
what do I do now?
what happens if I have contravened the order without a reasaonable excuse?
what do I do about court?
what happens at court?
how do I tell the court the relevant things and the relevant evidence that I want the court to know about?
what happens about costs?
what costs have to be paid?
conclusion

Questions to Ask Your Lawyer