FAQ

It depends almost entirely on whether you and your former partner can agree.

A matter resolved by negotiation and formalised with consent orders is usually done in two to four months, most of which is the court’s processing time rather than anything either of you is waiting on. A divorce application on its own takes around four months from filing to the order taking effect.

A contested matter that has to be litigated is a different scale — commonly twelve to eighteen months, and longer where there are complex assets, valuations or a family report required. That gap is the single strongest argument for settling, and it is why we push hard at negotiation and mediation before filing.

You will get a written costs estimate before we start any work, and a call from us before anything unexpected is incurred. No surprise invoices.

Where the scope of work is predictable — a divorce application, consent orders, reviewing an agreement — we offer fixed fees, so you know the number up front. Where a matter is contested, costs depend on how far it runs, so we bill at an hourly rate against the estimate and keep you updated as it progresses.

We also offer flexible payment options. The first case evaluation is free and carries no obligation, so you can get a clear picture of the likely cost before committing to anything.

Probably not. The large majority of family law matters resolve without a final hearing, and that is the outcome we work towards from the first meeting.

For parenting matters you are generally required to attempt family dispute resolution before you can file, unless there is urgency, family violence, or a risk to a child. For financial matters, mediation is not compulsory but it is almost always worth doing first.

If court genuinely is the only way to protect you or your children, we file and run it without hesitation — and our Senior Partner is a former barrister who has appeared at all levels of the NSW courts. The point is that the other side can tell when a matter is properly prepared, which is often exactly why it settles.

There is no automatic fifty-fifty split. The court works through four steps:

1. Identify and value the asset pool. Everything you both own and owe — the family home, superannuation, savings, vehicles, businesses, inheritances, and debts — regardless of whose name it is in.

2. Assess contributions. Financial contributions, but equally non-financial ones: homemaking, parenting, renovating, and what each of you brought into the relationship.

3. Consider future needs. Age, health, earning capacity, and who has the day-to-day care of the children. This step commonly shifts the split by five to fifteen per cent.

4. Check the result is just and equitable in all the circumstances.

Superannuation is part of the pool and can be split by order. Getting the first step done thoroughly is where most of the value is won or lost.

By one test: what is in the best interests of the child. The child’s safety is weighed above every other consideration.

Beyond safety, a court looks at the benefit of a meaningful relationship with both parents, the child’s own views (given weight according to their maturity), their relationships with siblings, grandparents and carers, and the practical realities — where each parent lives, work patterns, schooling, and how well the two of you can communicate.

The law does not start from a presumption of equal time. It starts from the child. If you and your former partner can agree, you can record it in a parenting plan or make it binding through consent orders, which is faster, cheaper and considerably less damaging for the children than litigating it.