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Third Parties

You don’t need to be a party to a marriage or to a de facto relationship to be financially affected by a breakdown of that relationship. At times, what one or both of the parties to separation do, or even propose to do, may end up financially prejudicing people outside that relationship.

We have acted for and advised many different types of third parties to Family Law disputes – ranging from public companies, banks, superannuation funds, family trusts, adult children, creditors, siblings and parents. The matters have involved everything from the protection or recovery of assets to the relevance of a subpoena.

Often these matters are complex and require knowledge outside the narrow confines of an average Family Law matter. At the same time, trying to approach the interest of these third parties from a purely commercial background without an understanding of the far-reaching power of the Family Court of Australia is not an option. We have successfully managed to bridge the divide between Family Law and other areas of the law in many matters, relying not only on our own experience but calling in as required skills from lawyers in other areas and working closely with them.

Similarly, we have acted for parties seeking to attack or affect third parties’ rights. Most commonly this involves advice in relation to complex family structures like family trusts and sham transactions.

Legislation Highlights
ASIC & Rich & Anor [2003] Fam CA 1114 – The law has been changed as a consequence of this case.
Kendling & Kendling (No. 3) [2007] FamCA 1249