OUR SERVICES
Family Law
East & Associates provides advice and representation on a range of family law matters, including divorce, division of finances, child custody disputes, consent orders and pre-nuptial financial agreements.
We endeavour to resolve disputes amicably, without the need for costly and stressful Family Court proceedings.
Unfortunately, there are cases when the only way to obtain a just outcome is to commence proceedings in the Family Court. If litigation is required, East & Associates will be there advocate vigorously on your behalf.
Our Usual Process for Family Law Financial Matters
We guide you through each stage of your family law financial matter with clarity and compassion
To begin with, we provide a free 15 minute consultation with one of our experienced lawyers. This gives you the opportunity to get some basic legal information relevant to your case. At this stage, we can often provide an estimate of fees for the first stage of legal representation.
The next step is a longer consultation to review documents and discuss your case in more detail. This meeting normally goes for around 1 hour and costs $440. At the conclusion of this meeting, we can usually offer a fixed fee quote for the first stage of legal representation.
If formally engaged, we normally try to negotiate with the other side to resolve your dispute without going to court. This may involve exchanging evidentiary material, making written offers of settlement and/or attending mediation.
If agreement can be reached, we will assist you in formalising the agreement by way of an application for consent orders or a financial agreement.
Where no agreement can be reached an application may need to be made to the Family Court. This involves preparing, lodging and serving the necessary documentation and considering any response from the other side.
The first court event is normally a procedural hearing, where the court officer will make orders setting out the first procedural steps in your case (in other words, you don’t generally get orders for the sale or transfer of property at your first hearing, unless by consent).
Often, the next court event will be a mediation (called a conciliation conference) with a Family Court registrar. Your lawyer may attend the conciliation conference with you and speak on your behalf. The conciliation conference is an excellent opportunity to settle your matter without going to trial. However, if there are matters that need to be dealt with before the mediation, the case may be listed for an interim hearing, which operates like a mini trial on a discreet issue that needs to be dealt with before trial (such as spousal maintenance, injunctions or urgent housing requirements).
If the case cannot be settled at the conciliation conference, the next step is generally to prepare for a contested trial which, depending on the nature of the case, could be a few months or a few years after the conclusion of the conference.
Free Consultation
You may engage East & Associates to assist you in some or all of the above steps. Most clients seek legal representation at every step in the process. Other clients, particularly those with financial constraints, prefer to represent themselves in Court and approach us for guidance behind the scenes.
Whatever your circumstances, you can trust East & Associates to provide excellent service tailored to the particular circumstances of your case.