In New South Wales, the end of a relationship can carry significant legal consequences, from the division of property and assets to arrangements for children. Whether you are married or in a de facto relationship, understanding your legal position early can make a difficult time more manageable. Here is what you need to know.

Getting Legal Advice Early

Unfortunately, relationship breakdowns are a part of life.

Whether you are party to a de facto relationship or marriage that is showing signs of potentially coming to an end, it is important that you understand what your options are and educate yourself about the process of unwinding a relationship.

It is not weak or disrespectful to hope for the best but prepare for the worst, so our number one piece of advice for people who sense that their relationship might be coming to an end is to get some legal advice early.

Understanding what may lie ahead is not condemning your relationship to fail. It is helping to insulate you against what can be an extremely stressful time for both you and your partner.

Every Relationship Is Different

Relationships come in all shapes and sizes.

You might be in a traditional marriage with a nuclear family and a straightforward situation: the family home, a few children that you love dearly, and a Labrador.

Perhaps your relationship is less advanced but still significant, like a de facto relationship. You have been living together for a number of years, might not have any children, but your lives are very much intermingled, including financial matters like savings and things like real estate investments including your principal place of residence.

For some people, it can get even more complex. Maybe you have been married for decades, have a number of children, various investments in property and other assets, and also have a business you built from the ground up and have worked in together for years.

The Legal Ramifications

In all of these cases, bringing your relationship to an end could have legal ramifications.

You need to think about things like how your assets will be divided, how custody of children will be shared, and, if you have a business, the practical realities of how it can continue to operate if the personal relationship of the owners has broken down.

Of course, there are other scenarios where there are far more serious circumstances to consider. This includes cases of family violence, coercive control, and financial and other abuse.

These are very difficult things to grapple with. However, forewarned is forearmed.

Getting advice early about what your options are can help to clear your head so that, as you make decisions about the direction in which your relationship is headed, you are doing so with as much information as possible.

How Our Family Law Team Can Help

Our family law team can help you irrespective of what stage you are at.

If you just want to get some confidential advice about what could happen if your relationship takes a turn for the worst, we can help with a family law consultation to provide you with information about the things you need to consider.

If you are in the unfortunate situation where the differences between you and your partner are irreconcilable and you need to unravel things like joint property ownership, combined or shared assets, custody of children, and all other matters pertaining to family law, we have an experienced team ready to help you.

Get in Touch

If you would like some family law advice, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. You can book a consultation with our family law team to discuss your situation in confidence.