Belmont parents: If you have already separated or are thinking about separating, And you have children, property or business interests then getting the right family law advice is a must. The cost of not doing so is immense. Both emotionally and financially. You need experienced, compassionate and affordable legal representation. Our team of local Perth Family Lawyers has the experience and knowledge to guide you through every step to receive the best possible outcome.
Let us do the heavy lifting as dealing with family law issues is emotionally challenging. We provide the support and guidance you’ll need so you can be enjoying a new future with confidence and clarity.
When going through a divorce or separation you’ll want expert advice and representation to ensure a fair division of property assets.
Property settlement is the part most people ask about first, and it is usually the part that decides how fast everything else falls into place. Around Belmont the housing runs from units close to the centre to established homes further out, so what a settlement looks like depends heavily on which of those you own — a unit is easier to value and easier to sell, a family home usually is not.
The work usually covers:
Our job is to get you a settlement you can live with, documented properly, without spending the difference on legal fees getting there.
We take these matters on regularly. Call us and we will be straight with you about it.
If you are divorced, separated and have children under the age of 18, speak to our Perth child support lawyers who know the WA Family Law.
Child support can be assessed, agreed privately, or locked in through a binding agreement, and the right option depends on how predictable the incomes are. Belmont is a centre for the district, so schools, childcare and work are often within a short radius and shared care is practical. How many nights the children spend with each parent changes the assessment, so it is worth getting that right from the start.
We assist with:
We can also deal with the costs that sit outside the formula — school fees, medical expenses and extracurriculars — through a written agreement.
Call us and we will tell you where you stand before you commit to anything.
Asset division for separated couples can be contentious and having a clear and thorough process will make the process easier for both parties. We can help!
Asset division is where the detail lives — superannuation, offset accounts, vehicles, business interests and anything held through a company or trust. Around the eastern suburbs it is common to see an owner-occupied home plus a unit held as an investment, and the investment property carries tax consequences on transfer that the family home does not.
We can assist with:
We locate and value everything, deal with the debts as well as the assets, and then formalise the division so neither of you is exposed to the other afterwards.
If this is where you are at, call us and we will talk it through.
If you are considering separating from your spouse, or have already done so, you may be entitled to, or liable for spousal maintenance.
Maintenance is separate from child support and separate from the property settlement, though the three interact. Around the eastern suburbs incomes are mixed — retail, trades, office work and self-employment — and where one party’s income is irregular, a maintenance figure needs to be set against a realistic average.
If you are already paying, we will tell you whether the amount is defensible and what it would take to change it.
Contact us and we will explain the realistic options for a matter like this.
Orders can be put in place or existing orders can be updated to make sure that parental responsibility of a child or children is protected.
Most parenting arrangements are settled by agreement and then formalised, which is far cheaper and far less damaging than a contested hearing. With schools, work and both households usually close together, arrangements around the eastern suburbs tend to be workable in practice. The value is in writing them down before they are tested.
Where agreement is not possible, we advise on mediation and, if it comes to it, on applying to the Family Court of Western Australia.
If this is where you are at, call us and we will talk it through.
If you have been in a De-facto relationship and you are now separated then talk to our team today about sorting out your parenting plans and financial asset division.
De facto couples have broadly the same property and maintenance rights as married couples, and the same obligations. Around the eastern suburbs it is common for one party to have owned a unit before the relationship started, with the other contributing to the mortgage since. That contribution counts, regardless of whose name is on the title.
The process is the same as for a married couple: identify the asset pool, negotiate, then formalise through consent orders.
Give us a call and we will set out how this works in your situation.
Contact our experienced divorce lawyers for Belmont.
The divorce application itself is usually the simplest part of a separation. It is a court order ending the marriage, nothing more. For clients here the divorce is the straightforward part — the settlement and the parenting arrangements are the work, and they should be underway well before the twelve-month deadline bites.
Sole or joint application, we handle the filing and tell you what the court will want to see.
We take these matters on regularly. Call us and we will be straight with you about it.
The households we act for in Belmont are a genuine mix of ages and stages, from first-time couples to families with teenagers.
Because both parties usually stay close, shared care is genuinely workable — the value is in writing the arrangement down before it gets tested rather than after.
The eastern suburbs is home ground for us, Cloverdale, Forrestfield, High Wycombe included.
In person, by phone or by video — whichever fits around your week.
If you are needing to get a property fixed up to be sold after a slit Electricians Near you will get your wires and lights up to code.
Legal guidance for property settlements and conveyancing, property disputes across Perth.
In the same way an electrician can help you get your house ready for sale a plumber can do the same, checking for leaks, drips or other issues in the home.
If you are moving house after a family dispute case has been finalised talk to a settlement agent today to discuss your options.
No — there is no automatic equal split in Western Australia, and that’s the most common misconception we correct. A settlement is worked out in steps: identify and value the whole pool, assess what each party contributed financially and non-financially, then adjust for future needs such as care of children, health, age and earning capacity. That process sometimes lands near half, and often doesn’t. A long marriage where one party raised children and the other built a career rarely produces an even division, and neither does a short relationship where one party brought in most of the assets.
Yes. ABMS Lawyers acts across the Perth metropolitan area from our office in South Perth – it is a short drive from our South Perth office. Consultations can be in person, by video or by phone, documents are exchanged electronically, and signing can be arranged to suit you. Call us and we will work out the best way to handle it.
Superannuation is treated as property and forms part of the pool, which surprises a lot of people. It can be split between the parties by consent orders or by court order, and for many separating couples it’s the second-largest asset after the family home — sometimes the largest. It’s also the asset most often overlooked in an informal agreement, and the hardest to fix afterwards. Splitting it requires orders drafted so the fund can actually act on them, so it’s worth getting the wording right the first time.
Most of it. The majority of separations resolve through negotiation, mediation and consent orders rather than a contested hearing. Consent orders are dealt with on the papers, so there is no court appearance at all.
Not automatically. Neither party has to leave simply because the relationship has ended, and moving out doesn’t forfeit your interest in the property — that’s another common worry with no basis. Who stays is usually a practical question about who can meet the mortgage, where the children are settled and whether both parties can reasonably remain under one roof in the meantime. Where they can’t, interim arrangements can be agreed or ordered covering who lives where and who meets the outgoings until a settlement is reached. If safety is a concern, that changes the picture and should be raised straight away.