By Tara Grant - 3 Aug 2012
- 1 comment
The Ministry of Justice has announced a raft of reforms to be
made to the Family Court. The reforms will largely focus on
care of children matters but will also bring about important
changes to the Family Court's jurisdiction in relationship property
proceedings.
The most significant proposal is to establish an out of court
Family Dispute Resolution Service as a means to help people resolve
their disputes quickly and inexpensively.
Of particular interest to us is the proposal to extend the
definition of domestic violence in the Domestic Violence Act to
include "economic abuse". This reform recognises the
reality of people using a range of economic tactics in order to
"abuse" their partner. An example of what may come
under the definition of economic abuse is where one partner
restricts the other from access to money. We look forward to
exploring in practical terms, how this new definition could assist
our clients struggling through financial separation.
For more information please contact:
Tara
Hurley