Talking about money before a wedding or moving in together is rarely romantic. Yet many couples want clarity about what happens to their property if the relationship ends. In Australia, one way to set this out is a financial agreement. These are often called prenups or binding financial agreements.

Financial agreements are made under the Family Law Act 1975. They can be useful, but they are strict documents with formal rules. If those rules are not followed, the agreement may not hold up. This article explains the basics in plain terms.

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Losing a job to redundancy can come as a real shock. It often lands at a time when people have bills to pay and plans in place. Knowing the basic rules helps you check that you are being paid what you are owed. It also helps employers handle a hard conversation fairly and lawfully.

In Australia, most redundancy rules for employees in the national system come from the Fair Work Act 2009 and the National Employment Standards. Awards and enterprise agreements can add their own terms. This article explains notice, redundancy pay and what makes a redundancy genuine. It is general information only, so check the rules that apply to your own job.

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If someone is taking drugs or addicted to them, they should be aware that the outcome of that can manifest itself in several ways, which include hospitalisation, being admitted to a drug rehab facility, or, if caught in possession of those drugs, being arrested and ultimately prosecuted for a drug offence.

With the last of those possibilities, arrest, it is in your best interests to be aware of what your rights are if you happen to be arrested for a drug offence.

One problem with drug offence arrests is the fact that if you are arrested under the influence of drugs, your thought processing and reasoning are likely to be considerably impaired.

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In almost all divorces the matter of finances, and specifically spousal support, is bound to arise, and given that this will impact significantly on both spouses’ futures, the importance of having family lawyers represent for this them is clear.

Whether you are the spouse who will be paying spousal support or the one who will be receiving it, Lawyers List serves as the primary directory for identifying firms with the right expertise to manage such high-stakes financial negotiations.

Applying for spousal support can be done by someone who is married and getting a divorce, or it can be done by someone who was in a de facto relationship.

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If marriage or a de facto relationship breaks down to the point where the couple decides to separate, in the normal course of events one of them would move out. However, occasionally there is a situation where instead of moving out, one of the individuals refuses to and this is often when the other partner will seek the help of your divorce lawyers.

When they do so, they often assume that all they need to do is get some kind of court order or go to the police in order to have the person who refuses to leave thrown out of the home. However, as their divorce lawyer will tell them, it is not as simple as that, and Australian family law does not have clauses in it where one partner can throw the other out of the matrimonial home simply because they want rid of them.

This becomes even more complicated where the couple has children and the risk can be that whilst their two parents are having a battle of wills, the children are caught in the middle, confused, and no doubt anxious as they see their parents argue over this.

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Defamation cases can be serious, and large monetary settlements are often reached if they are taken to court. In general, defamation laws are designed to protect people from unfair and unwarranted verbal and written attacks. In short, defamation is anything which harms a person or other body’s reputation without due cause.

And yes, defamation cases are sometimes a matter for employment lawyers, depending on the circumstances surrounding them. In many cases, defamation involving employers and employees can be messy, especially if working relationships have broken down.

What Constitutes Defamation?

To put it simply, defamation cases involve one person or party seeking damages for loss of reputation. In general, defamation is linked to someone distributing material making untrue claims about the person or business in question. It comes in many forms, including:

• Social media posts, blogs, and other digital content.
• Newspaper or magazine articles attacking another party without due cause.
• Photos, music, and other artistic or creative material.
• Emails, regardless who they were sent to or meant for.
• Broadcast or spoken words, including radio shows and podcasts.

In serious cases, defamation can seriously harm an individual or business’s future prospects, leading to lost income and potentially serious mental illness. Luckily, defamation laws in Australia are tough, allowing those who are affected to seek compensation from the offender.

What Should I Do if I Want to Make a Defamation Claim?

If you feel that you’ve been negatively affected by defamatory comments or other content, you should speak to your local law firm. If this defamation has occurred in the workplace, either between two employees or between employee and employer, you might need to consult an employment lawyer to confirm your employee’s or employer’s rights.

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If you’re an Australian employer then you have a range of obligations with respect to paid holidays and leave. Understanding these obligations is crucial if you want to run a successful business without placing yourself at risk, and the best way to do this is to speak with a commercial lawyer, such as Rowe Bristol, with experience in the industry.

As you can imagine, parental leave is something that pops up quite regularly. Unfortunately, a lot of employers don’t understand what their obligations are with respect to parental leave in Australia.

With this in mind, I’ve outlined the main parental leave laws in Australia to help you understand what you need to be doing:

What is paid parental leave?

Basically, paid parental leave involves a new mother or father being granted some time away from work to look after a new child. Usually, this happens in the days immediately after birth, and the length of time it goes for varies according to individual situations.

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Divorces can be nasty, but they are becoming more and more common in the modern world. Using a decent family lawyer can help streamline the divorce, but there’s a few things that you can do to make applying for a divorce as easy as possible.

In this article we’re going to look at five extremely important things that you should remember when applying for a divorce. They include:

1. Try And Resolve Things Without Going Through The Courts

Whenever possible it’s a good idea to try and resolve your divorce without going through the courts. If you do have to go to court, you will end up spending a lot of money on legal fees, and you might not end up with a resolution that anyone’s happy with.

A decent family lawyer will be able to guide you through the divorce process. If possible, remaining on friendly terms with your soon to be ex should also make things easier.

2. Consider Joint Accounts

Joint bank and credit card accounts can become problematic when you’re working through a divorce. If you’re considering applying for a divorce, then speak with your partner about any joint accounts that you’ve got.

It’s also worth speaking to an attorney or family lawyer if you’re not sure about the best course of action. They should be able to advise you and help you head down the right path.

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There are a lot of situations that require the services of a decent commercial lawyer. If you’re starting a business, redeveloping your business structure, signing a new lease, or doing almost anything else related to running your business, then you might need to think about the relevant commercial laws.

Although will be able to safely and legally do most things on your own, it’s often worth employing a commercial lawyer to make sure that you’re not missing anything. However, it can be hard to find a decent commercial lawyer who is both affordable and knowledgeable.

With this in mind, we’ve put together a list of the top 5 things you should think about when choosing a new commercial lawyer. They include:

1. Their specializations

This should be relatively self-explanatory, but it’s worth touching on. Not all commercial lawyers are the same, and not all commercial lawyers have the same skills and experience.

It’s very important to find one who has experience and training dealing with the field that you’re in. For example, if you’re running an online business, find a lawyer who understands online business structures and reporting requirements. Likewise, if you’re trying to break a commercial lease, find a lawyer with experience here.

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Child custody battles can become complicated, especially if both parents have a strong case. Often, these disputes end up in the courts, where a family lawyer will be invaluable to you.

They will be able to help you put together a strong case, maximising your chances of a positive outcome. However, there are also plenty of things that you should keep in mind when you’re fighting for child custody. You shouldn’t ever rely solely on your lawyer to get the job done.

Considering these five things will help you build the strongest case possible:

1. Make sure you choose your lawyer carefully

It can be easy to fall into the trap of using the cheapest or most accessible lawyer. If you really want to achieve the best child custody outcome possible, it’s very important to make sure that you don’t do this.

Instead, you should choose your lawyer very carefully. Take things like their experience, their training, and their track record with child custody disputes into account. At the same time, make sure that they’re friendly and approachable.

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