Who pays the bills after separation
October 31, 2018
Who pays the bills after separation, but before property settlement is finalised?
In the absence of Family Court orders, the usual contractual and property laws apply. For example, if your home is in joint names, you are both liable to pay the council rates. If your home loan is in joint names, so far as the bank is concerned, your contract says you are both liable to make the repayments.
If you wish to change this situation, you must seek orders from the Family Court. You might want to claim spousal maintenance from your ex-spouse, so you can pay your expenses. Alternatively, the Court may simply order your ex to continue paying the home loan repayments and indemnify you from any liability you owe to your bank for the time being.
If you have the capacity to pay, you might consider actually taking on the responsibility to pay your and the other party’s expenses because you may gain credit for your post-separation financial contributions. This may assist your final claim for property settlement. You need to consider the type of expense you might wish to pay and whether it may actually provide you with any benefit.
You should seek legal advice from an experienced family lawyer in relation to these issues before you enter into arrangements with your ex-spouse.
Family Lawyers Support Pink Ribbon
October 29, 2018
The Directors and staff at Paterson & Dowding enjoyed a wonderful pink themed morning tea last week to raise funds for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. A great time was had by all and all donations to a worthy cause.
WA de-facto couples to be able to split super on separation
October 25, 2018
Paterson & Dowding welcomes this announcement from the Honourable Attorney-General’s Department. The ability of separated Western Australian de-facto couples to split super is well overdue.
We therefore hope that amendments to the Family Law Act 1975 (WA) will indeed be made in 2019 even though we may have a change of government at the next Federal election. The present or next government now needs to resolve this matter quickly to create some certainty for those de-facto couples with pending property settlement claims that require superannuation splits to achieve justice and equity. This is particularly so for those couples who presently have matters listed for trial.
We watch this space with keen interest …
To read the media release from the Attorney General click on this link Super splitting WA
Welcome to Marnie Parkinson
October 23, 2018
Paterson & Dowding are delighted to welcome Marnie Parkinson to the team.
Marnie joins us as a Senior Associate. She has extensive experience working with native title claims groups, prescribed corporate bodies and native title representative bodies. She also has a range of experience with complex family law matters in both children’s and property matters. Marnie is a welcome addition to our team of experienced family and divorce lawyers.
Family Lawyers supporting WA children in need
October 3, 2018
At Paterson & Dowding we are committed to working with those in the community who require a helping hand. During Child Protection Week in September, we invited our staff to donate some items to assist the Parkerville Children and Youth Care put some welcome packs and school packs together for children in WA they work with. Through the generosity of our staff, we were able to provide some donations. We hope this will help provide some assistance to those who need it.
