The best lawyer at Southport, Gold Coast - Hunter Solicitors
Phone: 07 5532 5222
Level 1, 113 Scarborough Street,
SOUTHPORT, QLD 4215
Hunter Solicitors has a solid reputation for being assertive litigators giving you a very strong presence if your matter has to go to court. Our use of top family law barristers will give you a further edge over your opponent. Combined with extensive experience, dedication and commitment to your matter, we will listen to you so we can solve your problems, not prolong them. As family law matters are an emotional and sometimes traumatic experience, it is very important to seek quick, sensible advice so you can be clear on your rights as well as the best steps to take for you and your children. Contact us for caring and professional assistance with any family or de facto law matters including -
Matrimonial or defacto property settlements, depend on two essential ingredients. Firstly contribution, which means what each party contributed to the relationship and secondly, the needs of each party. For example if one party has an injured back and can't work, this will be considered favourably for that party.
We will assist you with resolving your property settlement quickly and with as minimal cost to you as possible, by endeavouring to arrange a settlement conference in the early stages of the matter, rather than immediately jumping into Court proceedings. If the other party is reluctant to co-operate and the commencement of legal proceedings does become necessary, we will look after your rights through the legal process.
Some family law property settlements can become complicated if overseas property, or property hidden in various trusts, is an issue. By utilising the skills of expert barristers and our experienced support staff, we will get to the bottom of your matter to bring the exact position to the surface, so that all of your entitlements and rights in the relationship are taken into account.
Experienced, common sense and caring advice is very important when you need to deal with the emotional and sometimes traumatic experience of marriage or relationship breakdown. Whether or not your relationship breakdown requires the sorting our of complicated commercial or corporate issues, we can assist you in reaching the results you are fully entitled to. Contact us to discuss your rights and the best approach to take in this area.
Parenting arrangements can often be a very sensitive subject for many parents following separation. However it is extremely important to establish a routine for both children and parents, following a relationship breakdown to ensure that the best interests of the children are fully protected. The Family Court considers the interests of children to be paramount. In other words, in matrimonial or defacto relationship breakdowns the children come first and must not be used as pawns by either parent to manipulate their own situation. There is a tendency towards joint responsibility for both parents to be involved with the care and control of children. To attempt to avoid the expense of legal proceedings through the Family Court, we will assist you in working out a plan for the children to spend time with each parent generally, as well as during periods of school holidays, and special days like mother's day or father's day. If agreement can't be reached between the parties relating to issues regarding children, then legal proceedings will be necessary. The Court will at times appoint an independent lawyer to represent and consider the interests of the children, so their interests are properly taken care of and remain paramount.
Contact us for caring and informative advice in relation to your rights as a parent, and the options available to you to try to resolve any dispute regarding parenting matters in the early stages, rather than becoming involved in stressful, costly and drawn out Family Court proceedings.
An application for divorce can only be filed after a period of twelve months has lapsed and where there is no possibility of the parties reconciling. These conditions must be met before an application for divorce can be made, unlike property and children's issues, which can be sorted out as soon as the parties separate.
It is very important to ensure however, that property issues are sorted out within twelve months of the Court finalising the divorce, otherwise the right to claim certain property from the marriage, or defacto relationship, may be lost.
If you have been separated for at least twelve months and there is no chance of reconciliation with your spouse, speak to us about getting your divorce filed and finalised with minimum fuss.
Hunter Solicitors were one of the first firms of lawyers on the Gold Coast to actively embrace the mediation process. An independent lawyer - usually an experienced barrister - is appointed as a neutral party to act as a Mediator to assist with settlement of a dispute, to avoid lengthy and expensive Court proceedings. Mediation is very beneficial in complicated family law disputes, where the expertise of the neutral Mediator often means the difference between settling with good results and more funds left in the matrimonial pool for distribution between the parties, rather than prolonged arguments through the Court which often results in diminished funds being left for distribution. Mediation in a typical matter usually lasts for half a day, and the cost of the mediation is shared between the parties.
We can refer our clients to expert counsellors such as qualified psychologists, to assist if litigation neurosis is affecting the client. Clients undergoing stress and anxiety during the litigation process are counselled, to assist them through the process. We certainly realise and understand that for some people, involvement in litigation can be stressful and this is why we like to make this very helpful service available.
You can enter into an agreement with your partner/spouse either before or after marriage, to clearly set out how assets will be split up if you separate in the future. The difference between a Cohabitation Agreement and a Prenuptial Agreement, is that a Prenuptial Agreement covers the situation when parties live together before marriage, whereas a Cohabitation Agreement covers the situation during the marriage or defacto relationship.
Agreements are particularly important if one partner owns more assets than the other, to ensure those assets are distributed correctly if separation does occur. The agreement will spell out exactly what each party will get if separation happens and how moneys will be paid, or assets divided. More and more people are now recognising the benefits of prenuptial agreements, particularly to avoid the costly expense of legal proceedings further down the track, should separation occur. The agreement should be prepared in detail, with careful steps taken to ensure that the final agreement is binding and can't be ruled invalid by the Court, should one of the parties choose to challenge the agreement further down the track. For that reason it is also essential that each party is represented by their own independent lawyer, to ensure the agreement reached remains binding.
Talking to your partner about this important topic does not have to cause arguments, and with help from our firm, this sometimes awkward process can be made easier.