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When parents reach an agreement in relation to child support, there are two options available to formalise that agreement.

Those two options are:

A Binding Child Support Agreement; and
A Limited Child Support Agreement.
What is the Binding Child Support Agreement?

A Binding Child Support Agreement is a contract between the parents which sets out the terms of the agreement they have reached in relation to the amount of child support for their child/children and how that child support will be paid.

Legislation QLD Australia: Where the children should live and how much time they should spend with the other parent or other significant adults in their lives are now subject to the Family Law Act. This came into effect in 2006.

The principals in the legislation QLD in Australia are summarised as follows:
“The law will take the view that parenting is a responsibility which should be shared and, in most cases, parents will need to consult and agree on the major of issues affecting their children.”

Are you considering changing your child’s name?
For children born or adopted in Queensland, parents may change their child’s first name once before the child turns one (1) and parents may change their child’s family name no more than once every twelve (12) months.

Both parents must consent to the change of name and the child himself or herself must consent to the change, if they are over twelve (12) years of age.

The most important thing to remember as any parent, and just as much so in separated families, is that you must be proactive and protective should your children face a serious or significant threat.

You must protect them from any real potential harm regardless of whether there is a parenting plan in place, Court orders or simply an agreement between the parents in split family situations where care is shared.

Separation and divorce can be very difficult and onerous times in both parties’ lives. Typically, the breakdown of a partnership or “separation” occurs when the relationship has been brought to an end by the action or conduct of one or both parties.

Although separation is not clearly defined under the legislation, the Family Law Court normally considers the effect the following three elements:

Is Drink Driving Only Applicable For Cars? Nope!
If you are caught drink driving, there is a strong chance the vehicle will either be a car or motorcycle. These two categories of transport form approximately 98% of the current drink driving charge in Queensland. However, these are not the only forms of transport you are able to be caught drink driving. Do you know the laws?

What is Binding Financial Agreements?
A Binding Financial Agreement is a private contract between two parties in which they are effectively finalising property settlement and spousal maintenance issues outside of the Court.

Binding Financial Agreements can be entered into:

1. Before marriage;
2. During marriage;
3. After divorce;
4. Before cohabitation; or
5. During cohabitation.

In parenting proceedings, parties are required to complete a Court form titled Notice of Child Abuse, Family Violence or Risk which discloses any allegations the parent may have against the other party which places children at risk.

If a party alleges there is a drug or substance abuse problem on behalf of a parent, then that parent may be required, via Court Orders, to undertake some form of drug testing. The drug testing can include urine samples and hair follicle samples which can trace drug use back to a number of months.

Punishment For Breach of a Family Court Order

In a recent decision of the Family Court, it was ordered that a mother serve an immediate term of imprisonment of 14 days and further that she be subject to a further term of imprisonment of 14 days which will be fully suspended.

This arose because the mother had failed on numerous occasions to allow her child to spend time with the child’s father when there were orders in place for the child to be with the father. She had given an undertaking to the Court in the following terms:

Every day the number of children born via surrogacy arrangements in Australia and overseas is increasing significantly.

By definition, surrogacy is a form of assisted reproductive technology whereby a surrogate mother offers to carry a baby through pregnancy on behalf of another person or couple (who medically or socially are unable to carry a child of their own) and then relinquishes the baby to the intended parents after birth.