Greenwood parents: Are you separating from your partner or thinking about separating from your partner, and do you have children, property or business interests than getting the legal advice a family lawyer is highly recommended. The cost of not doing so can be emotionally and financially devastating. You need compassionate, experienced and affordable legal representation. Our Perth Family Law experts are extremely knowledgeable and will 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.
There is no automatic fifty-fifty in Western Australia. A settlement is worked out in steps: identify and value the asset pool, weigh up what each of you contributed, then adjust for future needs. Where the mortgage has largely been paid off, one party buying the other out is usually realistic. The question is whether they can carry a refinanced loan on their own income.
We can help you work through:
We will tell you early what a realistic range looks like, so you are negotiating against a number rather than against a feeling.
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.
Most child support arguments are not really about the amount. They are about income that has not been properly disclosed, or a care arrangement that no longer matches what is actually happening. In an area like Greenwood, schools and childcare are close by and both households usually stay local, so shared care is workable. Where it is shared, the number of nights the children spend with each parent feeds straight into the assessment, and it needs to be recorded accurately.
We assist with:
We help establish an assessment, change one that no longer fits, put a binding agreement in place, or recover payments that have stopped.
Talk to us early. It usually means fewer costs and more options.
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. In the northern suburbs that usually means a house, two superannuation balances and a vehicle or two — straightforward, provided the super is actually split rather than ignored.
The exercise covers:
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.
Talk to us early. It usually means fewer costs and more options.
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. In the northern suburbs it comes up most often in longer marriages where one party worked part-time or stayed home while the other built a career.
We assess whether maintenance is payable at all, at what level, and for how long, then negotiate or apply for it.
Talk to us early. It usually means fewer costs and more options.
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 both households likely to stay within the northern suburbs and near the same schools, an equal or near-equal share of time is usually workable, and it is worth putting in writing while both of you agree on it.
We draft arrangements with enough detail to be enforceable and enough flexibility to survive a change of job or school.
Call us and we will tell you where you stand before you commit to anything.
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.
A de facto separation raises the same questions as a divorce — property, maintenance and children — without the divorce itself. Around the northern suburbs the common pattern is a couple who bought a property together and put the title in one name only. Whose name is on the title does not settle who is entitled to what.
The process is the same as for a married couple: identify the asset pool, negotiate, then formalise through consent orders.
If this is where you are at, call us and we will talk it through.
Contact our experienced divorce lawyers for Greenwood.
Divorce and property settlement are two different things, and people are often surprised that one does not deal with the other. Across the northern suburbs that means the settlement and the parenting arrangements are the real work, and the divorce is the paperwork at the end.
Where you have been married under two years, or your former spouse cannot be located, there are extra steps and we will walk you through them.
Talk to us early. It usually means fewer costs and more options.
People in Greenwood tend to stay. Long relationships, children raised locally, and both parties with a real stake in what was built together.
After that long together, contributions on both sides are substantial and hard to separate out, which is exactly why there is no automatic even split. What each party brought and what each gave up both count.
We work throughout the northern suburbs — Gwelup, Hamersley, Hocking among them — so none of this is new territory.
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 north of 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.
No. There is no automatic equal split in Western Australia. The asset pool is identified and valued, contributions are weighed up on both sides, then an adjustment is made for future needs such as care of children, health, age and earning capacity. Sometimes that lands near half. Often it does not.
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.