Family Law Drafting Toolkit: Sharpening Your Skillset – a recorded online conference

Session 1: Planning and Precision in Parenting Orders: A Drafting Guide

Parenting orders provide an essential roadmap, particularly for parents in a state of perpetual disagreement. With the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023 recently tightening the parameters around the parenting orders framework, it has never been more important for family lawyers to improve their skillset in this important area. This session examines key issues in drafting parenting orders, including:

• The legislative framework for parenting orders – what’s changed?
• The fundamental question: what is the order aiming to achieve?
• Navigating the building blocks of parenting orders
• How detailed to orders need to be?
• Key factors and circumstances
• Tips for drafting particular orders including:
  • holidays and travel
  • special day celebrations
  • relocation
• Why parenting orders can be unenforceable
• Cases and examples.

Session 2: Sunrise Sunset: Factoring in Ageing and Death in the Drafting of Binding Financial Agreements

Binding financial agreements have a very useful role for managing the complex issues arising in second, subsequent and later-in-life relationships, provided they comply with the requirements for validity and engage in some crystal-ball gazing. This session will provide a guide to drafting an agreement that provides greater certainty to all relevant family members in the event of marriage breakdown, involuntary separation or death in second plus relationships, including:

• The rules for binding financial agreements and the consequences of non-compliance
• Assessing the benefits and disadvantages of a binding financial agreement to your client
• Factoring in circumstances including:
  • blended families
  • aging and ill health
  • reduction in working capacity
  • involuntary separation and aged care
  • re-partnering where one party has lost capacity
• Can a binding financial agreement cover situations or be enforceable beyond the incapacity or death of one party?
• Consistency between a binding financial agreement and a will – which has precedence?
• Drafting tips and traps to avoid challenges
• How often should a binding financial agreement be reviewed and renewed?

Session 3: For Richer or Poorer: Drafting Spousal Maintenance Agreements and Orders

Spousal maintenance is not an automatic right. Whether the subject of a binding financial agreement or order, spousal support issues need careful consideration. This session provides an important guide to drafting spousal maintenance arrangements and orders, including:

• Responsibility for spousal maintenance under the Family Law Act and factors considered by the court
• Addressing spousal support in binding financial agreements
• How effective are spousal maintenance releases in preventing future claims? Drafting tips and traps
• Designing mechanisms which take into account relationship length and other key factors
• Tips for drafting spousal maintenance in post-separation agreements
• What should be in an affidavit when spousal maintenance orders are sought?
• Examples and cases including Ellerton & Jennings [2021] FedCFam C1A 39