How A Family Lawyer Will Help Out With Your Divorce Documents
by Susanna Phillips
Documentation is an essential aspect of your divorce case. More often than not, people do not understand how to file and draft divorce documents. Experienced family lawyers will negotiate and draft these documents for you. Below is a comprehensive extract explaining the role of family lawyers in managing the various divorce documents.
Process Serving
Once you file for a divorce, the court will issue divorce papers to be signed by your spouse. By Australian law, you should ask a third party to deliver these papers. Although you can ask anyone above 18 years (but not an interested party in your divorce) to deliver these papers, you should consider the services of an experienced divorce lawyer. These professionals understand the process of serving regulations and will not conduct any activities that could complicate your case. Besides, they hire skilled private investigators who can track a spouse in hiding. Finally, they will argue your case in court if it goes that far.
Assessing Your Prenuptial Or Postnuptial Agreement
Do you have a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement? Your family lawyer will advise how it will affect the property settlement process. Typically, you cannot contradict the terms of these contracts. However, the lawyer could ask you to invalidate the agreement if it does not meet the required legal standards. For instance, it could be you did not get independent legal counsel. Alternatively, you could agree with your spouse to negate the agreement.
Formalising The Agreements
Divorce in Australia involves a lot of out-of-court agreements. Two agreements play an important role in your divorce: the parenting plan and financial agreement. The parenting plan explains how you will cater to the children's needs, while the financial agreement details how you will divide the marital assets. Although you may trust your spouse, there is a possibility that they could disregard these agreements in the future, knowingly or unknowingly. Your lawyer will formalise these agreements by filing for consent orders. This way, they risk court action if you flout the agreement.
Changing Consent Orders
Over time, the financial agreement and parenting plan may no longer suit your needs. For instance, if you intend to move out of the country, you may want your ex to take over the family home and custody of the kids. If this is the case, your lawyer will help you amend the initial contract to reflect your current situation.
A family law firm in your area, such as P J Griffin & Co., will guide you through the ropes when drafting and filing the various divorce documents.
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About Me
Hello. I'm Mark and I am the manager of a successful modelling agency. It is my job to ensure that our models are well cared for and generate positive publicity for the agency. Sometimes that can be quite challenging and I spend a lot of time liaising with our legal team. From clients who refuse to honour contracts to models who are facing charges themselves, I am constantly dealing with legal issues. Over the years, I have become quite familiar with a range of laws and legal processes. My friends and family consider me to be a veritable fount of information when they have legal questions. I have decided to compose this blog in order to address the issues I most commonly deal with. Please browse at your leisure.