The legal issues that surround the breakdown of a romantic relationship are notoriously complex and have a lot of high strung emotions attached. In South West Sydney, everything from the custody of children to the division of marital assists falls under the purview of family law.

Those dealing with these issues are often under a great deal of emotional stress as they can feel like their life is falling apart. This is particularly true for parents who feel as though they are getting an unfair ruling regarding the custody of children and their access to visitation.

Often times, disputing couples becoming incredibly bitter and vindictive towards one another, having dedicated a large portion of their lives and income to the other. This causes many negotiations to break down and forces parties to have their matters arbitrated by a judge.

The system of family law in Campbelltown encourages disputing parties to work out their differences outside of the courtroom so as to save the public and any children unnecessary stress. As a result, the vast majority of issues relating to family law in Campbelltown are solved without any litigation as most people recognise that this process enables the best possible outcome for both sides, even in particularly acrimonious splits.

Let’s take a closer look at a few of the most complex issues surrounding family law in Campbelltown.

Divorce

Divorce is obviously the #1 issue related to family law in Campbelltown as it is the catalyst for other well-known related issues like child custody and property settlement. In Australia, we have a system of no-fault divorce which means that the court ignores issues relating to who’s ‘fault’ the split was.

Basically, this means that issues like infidelity are not taken into consideration by the court in determining which party is “at blame”. Instead, the court handles the split completely equally with no special consideration given to either side.

In Australia, both parties must be separate for a minimum of 12 months before they can apply for a divorce. In this sense, “separate” means that the pair is no longer living together as a romantic couple and this usually involves one party moving out of the residence.

In some cases it won’t be economically feasible for one party to move out of the home, so they must apply for ‘separation under one roof’. This is a special declaration that while you are still living in the same property you are no longer romantically involved as a couple. This is usually proven by the existence of separate sleeping arrangements as well as testimony from friends and relatives.

Child Custody

Child custody is another highly contentious issue related to family law in Campbelltown and is probably viewed the most controversially in the public eye. Many courtrooms have witnessed bad examples of parents attempting to pit their children against one another in order to deceive a judge into awarding or denying custody and visitation rights.

Child custody is normally worked out by determining which parent is the most appropriate primary caregiver for the children. If the children are of a certain maturity, then they can be expected to decide for themselves which parent they want to live with, within reason.

Younger children have far less say in where they end up and the decision is often made for them by a judge after reviewing the facts. In these cases, mothers are commonly awarded primary custody of the children because kids were already used to spending most of their time with them.

This leads many fathers to feel disenfranchised by the legal system as their commitment to their career (something their ex-wife may not have) keeps them from being the primary caregiver. This often leads assumptions that the system is stacked against men in favour of women.

These are just two of the big issues surrounding family law in Campbelltown.