Tag: legal research

An astounding plea for sanity from the family court bench

I was looking for some case decisions on custody, when I came across this:

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/03/09/judge-blasts-warring-parents-who-squandered-500000-on-custody-battle

The father tried being reasonable, offered a number of settlements and compromises, all rejected by the mother. Her behaviour went severely downhill. She was trying to take the child away from him to hurt him.

Luckily, the judge saw through it and the rulings were fantastic. The first ruling awarded the child to the dad with sole parental rights and the second awarded the dad with nearly $200,000 court costs from the mother.

This is a landmark victory in Canada because the judge ruled that the woman was being unreasonable and awarded full custody to the man.

Both judgments can used to bolster your Australian case precedents for your case.

Read the article for yourself, and let me know what you think!

Golden Rules when representing yourself. Part 7

Part 7 on…

THE GOLDEN RULES OF LITIGATION

Remember, success in litigation depends on three things: the facts, the law and the presentation; that is:

1 how strong and reliable your evidence is to establish the facts;
2 whether the law can be used in your favour;
3 how clearly and coherently you present your case.

So with that in mind, here’s number 7…

THE DOs

7. KNOW HOW THE LAW APPLIES TO THE FACTS

This is a 2 part idea. Positive and negative. THIS IS YOUR CASE. This is who you call as a witness and who you don’t. This is what you ask your witnesses and what you cross-examine your ex’s about.

You have your application for parenting orders (either as applicant or respondent), all your documents, videos, affidavits, and witnesses there. How does the law apply to all that. Or more accurately where does your application and all evidence fit to the law to prove your application, to answer every single question / point of law that the Judge must consider?

How does the facts (both good and bad) show the judge that your parenting order answers these points better than your ex’s parenting order does?

A Quick tip.
Write a closing argument first, showing how everything in your case proves, your parenting application answers the sections in Part VII — Children.

List out every witness and what they’re going to say, as if they said it, every video, recording, document, receipt, parenting course certificate, birthday and fathers day card, under each section showing how they prove those key points / questions. List out what you have from your ex or what you think she will try to bring as evidence to prove her application under these sections.

Look it over. You have the facts. You have the law. You have the facts answering each section of the law.

Can Part VII — Children (the law) be used in your favour?

If yes, you have your case and you can win. Not easily. Never easily. But, you can win.

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Golden Rules when representing yourself. Part 6

Part 6 on…

THE GOLDEN RULES OF LITIGATION

Remember, success in any litigation including your case in the Family Court depends on three things: the facts, the law and the presentation; that is:

  1. how strong and reliable your evidence is to prove the facts;
  2. whether the law can be used in your favour;
  3. how clearly and coherently you present your case.

So with that in mind, here’s number 6…

THE DOs

6. KNOW THE LAW

The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) Part VII — Children must become your bible.

A quick history lesson on the Act:

The law in relation to parental responsibility was changed by the Family Law Reform Act 1995 (Cth) (“FLRA”). This Act replaced part VII of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (“FLA”) and changed the terminology that is to be used when dealing with children’s matters from “guardianship”, “custody” and “access” to “specific issues”, “residence” and “contact”. It also introduced the terms “parenting orders” and “parental responsibility”.

The FLA has most recently been amended by the Family Law Amendment (Shared Parental Responsibility) Act 2006 (“FLASPRA”), which commenced operation on 1 July 2006. This amending Act changes the terms “residence” and “contact” to become “living with”, “spending time” and “communicating with” and attempts to send out strong messages, particularly in relation to shared parenting after separation, except of course the judges aren’t listening.

mckenzie friends judge don't care not listening

So you must know the sections in Part VII — Children:

Section 60CC How a court determines what is in a child’s best interests.
This is the blueprint for your application. It must answer every one of these points, positive for you and failures of your ex.

Section 61B Meaning of parental responsibility.
This DOES NOT mean equal time. It means equal decision making for major long term decisions, like no allowing the drugging of your son because he’s a defective girl in school who won’t sit still, ah, I mean he is mentally ill with ADHD [NOT!]. Or schooling, or religion, or other medical situations like operations and such.

Section 65DAA Court to consider child spending equal time or substantial and significant time with each parent in certain circumstances.
This is the section that deals with time spent with your children. These two sections are the questions that have to be answered in the best interests of your child in your application.

Read through the entire Part VII — Children. You’ll get an understanding of what you have to answer, but I warn you, it’s a horror story.

Also the Family Court site has a lot of this is simpler English. Read these first. Then tackle the Act.

And remember, parenting first, then financial. If you don’t have an agreement over shared parenting, drag your heels over the finances / assets negotiations. (Don’t say no outright. No ultimatums. Just slow things down.) Time is the great leveler in any negotiations.

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