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Our trusted spousal maintenance lawyer team at James & Jaramillo can help you during this trying time. Every marriage and the surrounding circumstances are different, which means that spousal maintenance can vary from couple to couple. Understanding time limitations, forms of spousal maintenance, and other factors can be confusing.
Our spousal support lawyers are experienced in handling family matters. We will handle your case with
Spousal maintenance is financial support in a lump sum or payments from one person to another for ongoing financial support; this form of aid is not the same as child support.
According to Family Law Act 1975, both spouses must maintain and support one another, even after divorce or separation.
How much support one is entitled to depend on whether the spouse cannot adequately meet their reasonable needs and whether the other spouse can provide support with consideration of their own needs and income.
Payment of spousal maintenance is not a foregone conclusion. It is generally considered a byproduct of the overall settlement of financial matters.
These arrangements are usually made for a fixed period, such as when the other spouse can find suitable employment or a child to start school.
You have to apply for spousal maintenance within 12 months of the divorce order becoming final. Applications after this deadline require court permission.
When the court makes decisions concerning maintenance payments, they consider the applicant’s needs for support and the other party’s ability to provide those needs after the de facto relationship or marriage.
The court considers the following:
The court might consider other factors that they feel are relevant to your situation. Our spousal maintenance lawyers can help prepare you for what that may look like.
A spousal maintenance lawyer helps couples draft a fair payment plan in conjunction with resolving any contentious issues between the two parties.
These situations require an experienced legal team to handle these situations with tact. You’ll need a trusted family lawyer in Sydney to keep the situation from going to trial.
At JJ Lawyers, we’ll do everything we can to help you reach an acceptable agreement for all parties involved.
Sydney-Wide Family Lawyers
Directly after a divorce, sorting out the matter of income and continual support for you and any children you have can be stressful.
Regrettably, figuring out these amounts can become complicated in Sydney, which usually engenders contention between the divorcing spouses.
If you want to maximise your result, contact an experienced spousal maintenance lawyer and our divorce lawyers Sydney who can get you the support you deserve.
It’s strenuous to manage emotions when going through a divorce or separation. When dividing possessions and issuing support, these emotions and sensitive situations can make understanding what one party deserves challenging.
By seeking help from a spousal maintenance lawyer, you have time to process what’s happening and allow a neutral party to help resolve contentious interactions.
We understand that this is a tricky time when you’re trying to understand how life will proceed after a marriage ends.
Emotions are high on both sides, and sometimes the only way to reach an amicable and fair agreement is to bring in a spousal maintenance lawyer that can remain neutral and do what’s right.
Give us a call, and we’ll help sort things out honestly and fairly.
Book a free consultation with us today! We have a straightforward and proven process that works. We strive to offer you the best legal representation possible.
Here Are Your Options For a Spousal Maintenance Dispute
Arbitration is a dispute resolution process that includes an arbitrator, a third party who remains neutral. They meet with the de facto partners (you and your previous spouse) and consider the arguments and evidence presented. Our defacto lawyers Sydney can assist you with your arbitration.
This process is more cost-effective and less time-consuming than going to trial. A spousal maintenance lawyer will highly recommend this process, as it’s more flexible and inclusive of both parties’ wishes.
Any negotiations surrounding property settlement disputes in a spousal maintenance case can occur between yourself and your de facto partners or via your de facto lawyers or property settlement lawyers Sydney. You can conduct the negotiations verbally, in person, or through writing.
Mediation entails face-to-face conversations between de facto partners, including your family legal team.
The mediation process is most successful when:
A mutually agreed upon mediator is usually present, and it’s their job to help the former spouses find common ground and construct a longstanding agreement.
Collaboration dictates that you and four de facto partners can agree not to proceed with a trial in court regarding parenting, property, financial, and general matters.
Instead, both parties have face-to-face meetings with their representatives to reach an agreement. These consent orders must then be presented to the court.
A spousal maintenance lawyer from our firm knows family law and expert strategy to successfully help you obtain what’s observed after the breakdown of a marriage.
Here’s why you should allow us to represent you:
Our spousal maintenance lawyers will be happy to review the nuances and help you figure out what’s next. Give us a call today to get started as we assist you in navigating through this situation as smoothly as possible.
If you require urgent assistance relating to other family law matters such as divorce, child recovery orders, requiring a child custody lawyer or relocating with children matters, do not hesitate to call us!
Under a Spousal Maintenance Agreement, the person who is paying the spousal maintenance (“the payer”) has an obligation to pay spousal maintenance for the period agreed to in the Spousal Maintenance Agreement.
A spousal maintenance agreement must:
1. Be in writing, and signed by both parties;
2. Include a statement that each party has received independent legal advice as to the effect and advantages and/or disadvantages of the agreement, before it was signed. This legal advice must be provided by a legal practitioner who has been admitted by the Supreme Court of a state or territory in Australia and holds a current practicing certificate; and
3. Include an annexure, for each of the parties to the agreement, signed by the person who provided the legal advice, which certifies that the advice was provided.
Separation Declaration/Certificate:
In accordance with s 90DA of the Family Law Act (Cth) 1975, the Binding Financial Agreement will come into force when the separation certificate is signed by at least one of the parties to the agreement when the relationship has broken down. Its states that the parties have separated and are living separately and apart at the time the declaration is made, and in the opinion of the spouse parties making the declaration there is no reasonable likelihood of cohabitation being resumed.
Termination of Binding Financial Agreement
In accordance with s 90J of the Family Law Act (Cth) 1975, de facto financial agreements may only be terminated, other than by marriage, in one of the following two ways:
1. Including a provision to that effect in another financial agreement; or
2. Making a written agreement to that effect.
Setting aside Financial Agreements
Section 90K of the Family Law Act 1975 sets out the circumstances in which a Financial Agreement can be set aside.
We strongly advise you to carefully consider the various circumstances which will trigger the Court’s power to set aside the Financial Agreement. These include (but are not limited to) the Court being satisfied that:
1. The agreement has been obtained by duress or fraudulent means,
2. There has been a failure to disclose relevant matters (such as an asset, interest in a trust, or a real estate valuation);
3. A party to the agreement entered into the BFA for the purpose of defrauding a creditor;
4. The agreement is void or unenforceable (e.g. the BFA was not prepared properly and does not comply with the legislative requirements set out in section 90G or section 90UJ);
5. Circumstances have arisen since the BFA was made which make it impossible or impracticable for the BFA to be carried out;
6. Since the making of the BFA, a material change in circumstances has occurred (relating to the care, welfare and development of a child of the relationship) and, as a result of the change, a party to the agreement will suffer hardship if the Court does not set the BFA aside;
7. A party’s conduct in the making of the BFA was, in all the circumstances, unconscionable;
8. The BFA covers at least one superannuation interest that is an “unsplittable interest”.
Upon application by a party or any other interested person, the court may make such order(s) as it considers just and equitable for the purpose of preserving or adjusting the rights of persons who were parties to that financial agreement and any other interested persons. Such an order would include for example an order for the transfer of property.
Validity, Enforceability and Effect of Financial and Termination Agreements (Section 90KA)
The court determines the validity, enforceability and effect of financial and termination agreements according to the principles of contract law and equity. The court has the same powers as the High Court, including the power:
– to make an order for interest on an amount payable under the agreement;
– to award damages, order bankruptcy or termination of the financial agreement;
– to order that the all or part of the financial or termination agreement be enforced as if it were an order of the court (for example, if one party is required to pay aa certain amount at dissolution and does not do so, the court simply makes an order to that effect.
At James and Jaramillo we can provide you will specific advice on your application for spousal maintenance.
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