News and latest insights.

Marino Law Adds to Family, Makes Third Tier in Prestigious Doyles List
After an extremely successful year, Marino Law has moved up on the prestigious Doyles List from Recommended to ...

Family Law – not always about the de-construction of the family – Step Parent Adoptions in Queensland
By its nature, family law practice is, in the vast majority, about families in conflict. Whether it be about ...

Family Court removes hurdle for children with Gender Dysphoria
Last week www.mamamia.com.au reported on the case of “Miles” a transgender boy who despite having loving and ...

Estate Planning Update: What Constitutes an Informal Will?
Many people do not like to talk about estate planning and the disposal of their assets upon their death. It is an ...

Safe Harbour and Ipso Facto Reform
On 12 September 2017, the House of Representatives passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (2017 Enterprise Incentives ...

Divorce in protest to yes vote – doomed to fail?
Today www.news.com.au reported on the “plight” of a couple who vowed to divorce if Australia voted YES to same sex ...

Australia Says “Yes” – Where to Now?
The results of Australia’s Same Sex Marriage Postal survey were announced today. By a majority of 61% Australian’s ...

Worst Pre-Nup ever set aside by the High Court of Australia in landmark ruling
On 8 November, 2017 the High Court has handed down a much awaited decision in respect of the matter of Thorne v ...

Defining De Facto
Recently in Cuan & Kostelac, the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia was asked to consider an appeal ...

Citizenship Bill Defeated in the Senate
Following on from our article titled ‘Citizenship Changes Opposed in the Senate’, the Australian Citizenship ...

Family Court of Australia intervenes when Surrogacy Agreement goes wrong
The Family Court of Australia sitting in Cairns has been required to intervene in an altruistic surrogacy ...

Citizenship Changes Opposed in Senate
The Australian Citizenship Legislation Amendment (Strengthening the Requirements for Australian Citizenship and ...

Vulnerable Workers Bill Passed by Parliament
Following on from our recent article titled ‘Vulnerable Workers Bill Passed by Senate’, this week the Australian ...

Vulnerable Workers Bill Passed by Senate
Further to our recent article titled ‘Amendments proposed to the Vulnerable Workers Bill’, the Australian Senate ...

Arbitration – Divorce Done Differently
One of the most common questions of family law client’s embarking upon the process of division of assets of a ...

Can a Payment Made by an Insolvent Company to a Secured Creditor Still be an Unfair Preference Payment?
We recently provided advice to liquidators with respect to unfair preference payments made by the insolvent ...

Commercial and Retail Lease Incentives Fitout Contributions and Consequences for Poor Implementation on Lease Commencement
Lease incentives provide a mutual benefit to both parties to a Lease. From a Landlord’s perspective, advertising ...

Amendments Proposed to the Vulnerable Workers Bill
Further to our article titled ‘Under New Legislation, Franchisors could be liable for Franchisees’ breaches of the ...

Importance of Binding Death Nominations for Superannuation Highlighted
An interesting article in the Gold Coast Bulletin on 22 August 2017 emphasises the importance of having in place ...

The Case of the Unrelated Biological Sisters and Ministerial Intervention
The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the Honourable Peter Dutton, has exercised the rarely used ...

Subway Worker Allegedly Underpaid $16,000
According to a recent article, The Australian Franchising Industry continues to be under fire following the Fair ...

When is a Company Insolvent?
Whether a company is insolvent can be relevant in a number of circumstances. A director of a company must ...

Family to be Deported After Living in Australia for Nine Years
Daniel Lee and his family, who have lived in Australia for nine years, are facing deportation to Korea unless the ...

Local Law No. 17 – Grounds to Terminate?
Until recently, a buyer of residential waterfront property on the Gold Coast was entitled to terminate the ...