Family Lawyers in Melbourne

Our family law team consists of highly experienced family lawyers, including Accredited Family Law Specialists with the Law Institute of Victoria, who are also mediators and collaboratively trained lawyers. We are also able to provide family dispute resolution services.

Whilst we are experienced in litigation, our team is committed to resolving matters promptly, and with the use of family dispute resolution such as mediation where appropriate. We take a holistic approach to family law matters, involving various experts such as psychologists, accountants and financial planners to achieve the most effective outcome for our clients.

We have the benefit of working within a full service commercial firm, with expertise in various areas of commercial law including general litigation, commercial property, workplace relations, insolvency and technology. Most importantly, we provide a consultative and flexible approach to billing, offering hourly rates, fixed fee arrangements and up-front estimates to suit your requirements.

Our areas of expertise include:

divorce and separation
children’s and parenting matters (including relocation applications and complex litigation)
property and financial matters (including complex property settlement litigation)
spousal maintenance (married and de facto)
Binding Financial Agreements
Consent Orders
family dispute resolution (Section 60I Certificates)
mediation
collaborative law
family violence and intervention orders
multi-party disputes (including corporate entities, and grandparent applications)
superannuation splitting
injunctions and restraining orders
Child Support Agreements, Child Support Applications and Adult Child Maintenance
LGBTI-related family law matters
surrogacy, Donor Agreements and adoption
international children’s matters (including child abduction), and
paternity.

To speak to one of our specialist family lawyers please contact us on (03) 9663 9877. You can also connect with our team by following our Facebook and LinkedIn pages, where we regularly publish news and updates relevant to this area.

Making a divorce application

If your relationship has broken down and you are looking for assistance in lodging an Application for Divorce, we can assist you and guide you through this process. Simply complete our online form and, once submitted, one of our highly experienced family lawyers will help you navigate the process. If you change your mind part way through completing the form, you can simply cancel the process. If you’re unsure or have any questions, please call us on (03) 9663 9877 and a member of our team will guide you. If you change your mind after completing the online form, there’s no obligation to proceed.

Please also note that you must be separated for 12 months before you can lodge an Application for Divorce. If you are unsure about your date of separation, one of our team members will be able to assist you with this.

Our fee for a standard divorce application:

where there are children under the age of 18 years: a fixed fee of $1,550 + GST (includes court appearance); OR
for a joint application or where there are no children under the age of 18 years: a fixed fee of $1,200 + GST.

A court filing fee of $1,060 (or $350 for eligible concession holders) also applies. We will advise any other disbursements before incurring them (including process server fees if required).

Please note that additional costs may apply for non-standard divorce applications, such as where parties have separated but continue to live together under one roof post separation. We will provide you with a fixed fee for any additional work required.

If you’d like to commence a divorce application click on the button below.

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Please note that filing a divorce application is a separate process to the division of property and parenting arrangements. If you want to know where you stand in relation to property and parenting matters, please see below.

Property and parenting matters – find out where you stand

Are you thinking about separating but don’t know where you stand? You can start the process of your family law consultation by using our free interactive form online (click on the link below).

Initially you will be asked to answer seven simple questions about your situation. You will then be provided with general advice about your circumstances (including how the family law system works), and your options with regard to parenting arrangements and/or a property settlement. There is no charge to use this online tool.

If you would like to provide further detail and meet with one of our lawyers, you will be prompted to complete additional specific questions regarding your current circumstances. Those instructions will then be provided in summary to one of our experienced lawyers, to ensure that your first meeting with them is meaningful.

If you have any questions at any time, feel free to call us on (03) 9663 9877. We’re here to help.

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