Certified Family Law Specialist

In the context of Family Law, Court/litigation is viewed as being expensive and time consuming. With that being said, in certain cases, taking a matter to Court is the only viable option to bring a Family law matter to an end.

Out of Court negotiations require cooperation and a commitment to settle from both Parties. Too frequently, Parties are frustrated by the other side’s unwillingness to provide information and cooperation for any negotiations to be fruitful. Parties may wait months, if not years for the other side to provide essential basic financial disclosure or agree on valuations of properties. At times, a Party may intentionally delay the proceedings to establish status quo or for financial gain.

Mediation, Med-Arb and Arbitration are all voluntary processes that require both Parties to work together to agree on the process and choose a neutral mediator &/or arbitrator. For some parties, this level of cooperation is not a possibility.

A common misconception with Court proceedings is that once they have been commenced, the opportunity to settle does not exist; this is generally not the case. Not all matters proceed to a trial. Settlement discussions can usually occur at any stage of the litigation up until the trial. The first few Court dates are conferences where a judge acts a neutral third party and often provides their unbiased opinion.

Judges also implement timeframes for documents to be exchanges and valuations obtained. There may be consequence, such as costs orders, for non-compliance with Court Orders that can motivate Parties to ‘cooperate’.

Court proceedings provide you with the option to seek urgent relief in situations such as; domestic violence, the home needs to be sold, assets are being depleted, a Party is flight risk, decisions pertaining to children’s activities, education and health need to be made, etc. These are but some examples. Litigation is also the only option if there is a fast-approaching limitation period that you cannot afford to miss.

Whilst an attempt to settle a matter prior to commencing Court proceedings is always a good idea, in some cases litigation is necessary to get the ball rolling and will bring about a more timely resolution to the dispute.