Despite statistics that show the divorce rate in Australia to be declining, there is no shortage of demand for the services of a family law divorce lawyer, with the actual figures being in the order of 47,000 divorces annually. Seeking professional help is always advised in legal matters, as often, what starts out as a simple process can become complicated. http://www.abclegal.com.au

1. Court Processes No Sweat for Family Law Divorce Lawyer
The latest divorce statistics available for Australia surprisingly show that the rate of divorce in
on the decline and is at its lowest rate since 1988. This is no cause for a major celebration
however, as the rate has fallen from a peak of 54,000 in 2001 to 47,000 in 2007. With those
numbers, there is still plenty of work for any family law divorce lawyer to do, with thousands of
couples each year still needing help and advice, once they have made the decision that their
marriage is irretrievable. Professional legal advice is especially important if the separation is
acrimonious resulting in the couple being unable to make rational joint decisions.
Many people may be surprised to know that the legal process of divorce under Australian Family
Law is simply to officially acknowledge that the marriage has ended. It does not deal with issues
around the division of property or child custody arrangements. However, depending on the
circumstances it can be a complex process that should be handled by an expert in family law
Sydney.
The start of the process is for the Court to prove that, firstly that the marriage is valid, usually
evidenced by sighting a Certificate of Marriage. If the marriage certificate is in a language other
than English, a sworn translation must be provided to the Court. If there is no marriage
certificate, the Court may request some other evidence of the existence of a marriage.
Next the Court must establish jurisdiction as it only has the power to grant a divorce if one of the
parties considers Australia to be home, intends to live here indefinitely, has lived here all their
life, is an Australian citizen or usually lives in Australia, and was living here in the twelve
months prior to the application for divorce. The Court must also establish that the marriage has
irretrievably broken down. If the couple has been separated for twelve months prior to the
application, a declaration by the applicant is sufficient evidence for the Court to make that
decision.
The application form is filed in triplicate and one copy returned to the applicant by the Court. A
hearing will usually be scheduled approximately within eight weeks. Once the Court is satisfied
that the respondent is aware of the application and the hearing date, a decree nisi will generally
be granted. The divorce is finalised when a decree absolute is granted, generally one month and
one day after the decree nisi is granted. The Court will then issue a certificate of divorce by post.
If everything goes smoothly and all the required documentation is available, it will take
approximately 12-13 weeks from filing the application to granting the divorce. However, often
there are issues with the documentation, questions about jurisdiction, language barriers and other
problems that require the expertise of family lawyers Sydney.
Even simple legal processes can become complicated when things don’t fall into place as
expected. When the divorce is handled by a family law divorce lawyer, any surprises or issues
are dealt with quickly, so that the client can get on with their lives.
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