LEGAL
NAVIGATING YOUR SEPARATION…
How to swim and not sink A MARRIAGE OR RELATIONSHIP ENDING IS COMMONLY UNDERSTOOD TO BE ONE OF THE TOP THREE MOST TRAUMATIC EVENTS THAT A PERSON CAN EXPERIENCE. THE EXPERIENCE CAN BE LIKENED TO BEING CAUGHT IN A RIP IN THE OCEAN. Unsure as to direction, uncertainty of your thoughts and capacity to move, combined with periods of treading water and calm stillness. Just as you cannot control the movement of the ocean, there are aspects of your separation or divorce which cannot be controlled. Those aspects are the processes and procedures put in place by the various pieces of law and rules of court as well as the conduct, responses and reactions of the other party involved in the separation. What you can control however, is knowledge. Obtaining advice as early in the separation process as possible is the key to being able to make sensible and logical decisions about how to wade into that deep water and make it out safely. 96 GOLD COAST • PANACHE Magazine
Advice should be sought from an experienced family lawyer, not from trusted friends and loved ones who, whilst well intentioned, are not legally trained or experienced in the practice and procedure of Family law. A good family lawyer is one who is armed with both book smarts and street smarts to ensure that decisions are made in line with the law, but also the most practical and sensible solution for your circumstances. In this article we will touch on the very basics of the division of assets after separation including how the Court determines property settlement disputes if you cannot reach an agreement. In Australia after separation there is an entitlement to a “fair” or “just and equitable” division of assets of the relationship. It is the question of what is
ABBI GOLIGHTLY Partner OMB Solicitors Abbi has been named a “Recommended Family Lawyer” and “Leading Parenting Lawyer” from 2016 - 2021 commendation by the independent Doyles Guide.
Lvl 1/9 Seabank Ln, Southport QLD 4215 P (07) 5555 0000 E info@omb.com.au www.omb.com.au
