The Best Of Legal Services

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Family Lawyer Melbourne Legal Services For Family Related Issues 3 Divorce Lawyer Melbourne Couples Expert Counsel During Trying Times 4 The Basics Of Writing A Legal Will 5 Experts Tips On Proper Estate Planning 6 The Truth About Shared Parenting, Australias New Child Custody Law 7

Family Lawyer: Melbourne Legal Services For FamilyRelated Issues

Delayed, drawnout court proceedings. Highly emotionally exhausting encounters. Financially draining expenses. Youve heard all sorts of stories of how settling disputes under the Family Court can bring much difficulty and indignity to everyone involved. Hiring a lawyer with family law expertise and with a high competency in legal negotiation will make sure that you dont have to go through all that frustration. By having an experienced, sensitive and sensible family lawyer, Melbourne clients who need to settle familyrelated issues can look forward to a fair resolution without the huge costs, without the drama, in a reasonable time frame. The focus of leading family legal firms is to present a calm and objective strategy for solving family legal concerns effectively. With the help of expert legal mediators, you can seek help for the following matters: Prenuptial and cohabitation More couples today who are planning to get married or live together enter this next phase in the relationship with more realistic views. The concept of pre nups has started to be widely accepted people now think that coming up with such agreement is not a selfish or negative act, but a responsible one, since it ensures that the assets and interests of all parties involved will be well protected. With a family lawyer, couples can enter into a legal agreement regarding the distribution or management of assets in case of unfortunate separation. Separation and divorce During the event of a marriage breakdown, its important to make sure that parenting and property concerns are settled in a fair and calm manner. With a highly competent family lawyer, Melbourne clients can enter into an objective negotiation environment, prevent bitter disputes and ensure that the childrens welfare and interests are taken cared of with utmost priority. Wills and estate planning Preparing for your familys future involves a wellstructured planning of your wills and estate. Without a valid will, government laws may be automatically applied to the distribution of your assets, which may suffer from the impact of taxation. An
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unclearly defined distribution of assets may also lead to endless disputes between family members at the receiving end of your generosity. With the help of a family lawyer, you can draw up a will that ensures beneficiaries will receive the maximum share of your wealth without being burdened with fees and taxes, and without entering into conflicts with each other. Family lawyers are not just needed in times of crisis. More often than not, asking for their help during happy days will ensure that you and your familys welfare are covered in the event of stormy circumstances.

Divorce Lawyer: Melbourne Couples Expert Counsel During Trying Times

The emotional journey of a couple in the midst of a marital breakdown is said to be similar to some of the stages one undergoes when grieving. First, theres denial its the time when the cracks in the relationship are slowly showing, and the couple distracts themselves from the real issues by taking up hobbies, going to holiday cruises, spending more hours at work, and so forth. As the problems persist to resurface, anger takes charge, and makes the home into a tension filled warzone. The couple may also go through feelings of guilt, depression and they may seek bargains to remedy the situation until finally, they come to acceptance. This is where they realise that theres no other way but to lead separate lives, for their good and the good of the children. Once the couple accepts the fact that their differences are irreconcilable and no amount of hedging and problem solving can take their relationship back to where they started (if they indeed had a good start), then the next course of action would usually be to hire a divorce lawyer. Melbourne legal experts in family law can present a calm and objective platform on how couples can settle property and parenting matters during the breakdown of a marriage, domestic partnership or civil union. With their counsel, the process of divorce, annulment or legal separation can be resolved while reducing the time, expenses and if possible, emotional baggage of all parties involved.
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One of the most important goals of a family lawyer is to present the best scenario regarding the arrangements of caring for the children. Child support decisions must see to it that the welfare and wellbeing of the offspring, especially younger ones, are protected and given top priority. Should there be a petition from one of the parties to move the children to another country, or take the kids back to their original country of residence, the legal application required for this decision will also be arranged by the legal counsel. Another important point to be negotiated is the issue of properties, including division of assets and financial support. Tallying the couples conjugal properties and assets, determining each individuals earning and financial capabilities, assessing prenuptial agreements, if any these are some of the facts that will be taken into consideration by the divorce lawyer. Melbourne legal experts will take into account all relevant points and launch the settlement and negotiation process until the parties arrive at a satisfactory decision. The most skilful and highly competent divorce lawyers are those who are able to help couples settle the cases through fair negotiations. Without having to go to Court, both parties can avoid the expensive, exhaustive and long drawnout process of litigation, helping them navigate their emotional journey into a hopefully more positive path sooner.

The Basics Of Writing A Legal Will

First things firstyou can write your own will and you can even use a willwriting software for help (though some say the software is not that helpful). Basically, all you need to do is carefully lay out all the details for the proper distribution of your assets and your specific requests. The question is: Will doing all these things make the will automatically legal? Its important to remember that there are different legal policies for every state, so the first thing to do is research on your states requirements first. The legal policy for your area may require a particular method of having the will notarised, such as a specific number of witnesses and other special processes. Anyway, the key really is to find out what the states requirements are and conform to them so the document will be recognised as legal. For an easy way of doing so, its best to have a lawyer around to guide you. The lawyer can help tailor a legal will so it will be in complete accordance with the states legal policies and you wont have to do the research on your own.
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Some people think that having a lawyer tailor the document instantly makes the document a legal will; it does not. To do so, you must find a notary public to witness your signature and those of your chosen witnesses (witnesses must be uninterested parties meaning, theyre not inheritors or beneficiaries). You must include a declaration that you and your witnesses are of legal age, of sound mind and have signed the will under no duress. Do not forget to include the name of the executor of your will. The executor will handle the proper distribution of your assets and the other details of your will after you have passed away. A lawyer is always a good choice, as well as trusted friends and members of the family. Its also important to name a secondary executor should the primary one dies early or be forced to relinquish his responsibility due to certain circumstances. Experts advise to draw up a legal will sooner than later because its a great way of making sure that all your loved ones is accounted for. Another advantage to doing so is that you can make adjustments to the will as time changes the quality of your relationship with people. Though family will always be family, lifes complexities may have you changing your mind about a just distribution of your assets among the people in your life.

Experts Tips On Proper Estate Planning

Why do you need to come up with an estate plan when you dont even have a lot of money in the bank, or assets under your name? In your mind, you dont even really have an estate worth drawing up a plan for. Financial and legal experts state, however, that no matter how much your net worth is, its still important that you have an effective estate plan because it will ensure that your family will be properly accounted for and whatever financial goals you have will be met after you have passed on. You want to make sure that whatever money and investments youve made will benefit the people that you care about. In this article is estate planning tips from experts to help you do whats best for beneficiaries. The first thing to do is to make an inventory of all your assets; write them all down. These assets are the money you have saved, (be it in a cookie jar or the bank) insurance policies, investments, real estate properties or business ventures. Second thing to do is determine the people who will have involvement in your estate planning affairs: from your planning team
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(normally composed of a lawyer, a tax professional and a financial advisor) to your beneficiaries. A will is one of the important products of estate planning. The will determines how exactly you want your assets to be distributed and handled after you die. The will is always best complemented with a trust. It will allow you to decrease the taxes (estate and income) so your heirs or beneficiaries would no longer have to deal with so many complications that the state has set. Trust can even offer protection of your assets from creditors and lawsuits, therefore ensuring that you only leave financial benefits to your heirs. Its also greatly helpful to discuss your estate plans with your family and other beneficiaries. Money is often a big and powerful issue for people and you dont want to turn your family into a dramatic soap opera because of it. Gathering your family and beneficiaries together to discuss the details of your estate plans will help you explain your motives clearly. Also, its the perfect opportunity to resolve issues that may arise and preserve the good relationship of all involved parties. In conclusion, there are great advantages to doing your estate planning early, but perhaps the best thing it does is to fully reflect the love and concern you have for the people you will leave behind.

The Truth About Shared Parenting, Australias New Child Custody Law

People always say that the real casualties of divorce are the children they suffer the mistakes of the adults and are often left with longtoheal wounds because they do not have a full grasp of the way adults decide on things. Its for this sensitive condition that the child custody law was created the legal system wanted to ensure that the children do not suffer more than the physical separation of their families. In Australia, the child custody law took on a very liberal approach due to the introduction of the Shared Parenting laws in 2006. Judging by the name alone, people instantly got the idea that its a legal policy that would have the kids of divorce travelling back and forth, to and from both parents homes. Naturally, it was perceived unhealthy for the psychological development of

the children, but in reality, such illustration is not at all what the new child custody law is all about. Shared parenting is not forcing the children to spend equal time with both parents; its not a mandatory half and half deal where the kids would spend 6 months with the mother and 6 months with the father. What this is, basically, is a provision of a new option to address certain developmental concerns that stemmed from the usual court leaning of giving full custody to the mother. As children are complex beings, they need a balanced exposure to strong female and male primary figures in their lives. Critics of the Shared Parenting Law raised the issue that such a parenting arrangement could increase the risk of child abuse. Again, the claim is an outright lie because statistics even show that the risk is actually substantially higher for sole custody grants. Shared parenting actually highlights the childprotective dynamics of the setup which is greatly similar to a conventional family structure. Child development experts even share that for children, equal time with both parents develops stronger confidence that makes them less vulnerable to abuse. This is primarily due to the trust that they have that theres always that other important person who cares greatly about them. Its been pointed out as well that Shared Parenting messes up child support commitments. The truth is that child support becomes a more active responsibility for the fathers; they have to provide a bedroom for their children, clothing, school needs and all the stuff that the kids are supposed to get from their parents. In some aspects, this can be confusing for some, but the way feminist groups are depicting the mess is completely unfair to the fathers. The children actually get the best advantage because of this arrangement and thats really how it should be.

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