If the whispers are correct a Melbourne Cup field has nominated for the next Family Court judicial appointment in Queensland. I have heard some names, but I suspect it may be inappropriate to open a book and take bets.
The divorce rate of 40% is supported by a survey that 30% of women believed they were marrying the wrong man, before their wedding, as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Seems the romance of weddings is the fodder for family lawyers.
The Federal Attorney-General has advertised for the positions of Federal Magistrate and Family Court Judge in Queensland.
It’s been suggested that members of the bar will form a long queue. Applicants should be prepared to travel.
Good luck.
Pre-nuptial agreements are very quickly becoming a thing of the past as reported in The Australian today.
I understand that many leading family lawyers in Sydney will not draw them. Too little legislative protection and too much uncertainty in judicial outcomes is quickly killing them.
Judges usually make the news for bad reasons. No so this report referring to comments made by Justice Murphy in a case from which he then disqualified himself.
You can feel his pain and that of the children.
Orders made in the court exercising Family Law jurisdiction over de facto property orders (made prior to the 11 February 2012) are likely invalid.
It seems the bureaucrats in the Attorney-General’s department failed to do their job in arranging the proclamation of the legislation.
Bi-partisan political support should result in legislation to retrospectively correct the error. I assume this will occur next week when Parliament sits (provided the government can get over the ego spats and “get on with the job” as the PM says).
To avoid superlatives Keith was a good man with a good heart. So too was he a good lawyer and jurist.
He will be missed.
A sad note on which to begin holidays.
I have acted for and against many problem gamblers in my career. Poker machine addiction is not good for marital harmony.
As Canberra struggles for a solution it seems to be an easy fix is available to poker machine poverty … increase the payouts!
The politicized world of family law reform has for many years led to constant change in family law legislation.
It has now been some time since any substantial change occurred and it seems nothing is being contemplated for the near future. The changes to the children’s provisions of the Act seem to be on the back-burner.
2012… we shall see.
It seems that the divorce game is a lot rougher in the States. We certainly see evidence of entrapment here, but nothing as elaborate as this story reported in the Sydney Morning Herald.
As a family lawyer with over 26 years experience, Don gives his insight on family law news, issues and procedures.