When a relationship or family unit breaks down many decisions need to be made about your children. Parenting arrangements need to be put in place. Family Law provides the legal framework for dealing with these issues in situations when you and your ex-partner cannot agree. Family Law is federal law that means that the same laws apply throughout the country.

Many different issues can come up at the time of separation or further down the track. Each case is different. Some of the issues you need to think about include:

• who your children will live with;
• whether you will both have joint parental responsibility;
• the people that your children will spend time with and when this will take place. You should consider the children’s right to have contact with their other parent and members of their extended family;
• any special arrangements that need to be put in place for the contact such as deciding who will pick up and return the children or where changeover will take place;
• whether arrangements need to put in place for overseas travel;
• who will need to pay child support; and
• what will happen if either parent wants to move house, move interstate or move overseas.

This is a difficult time and making these decisions can be very stressful particularly if there is ongoing conflict with your ex-partner. It is important to make sure you are properly informed about your rights and responsibilities as these are significant decisions that will affect you and your children. The breakdown of the family unit can be extremely difficult for children and their best interests should be your primary concern.

Stress levels and emotions often run high during and after a breakup. This can make it really hard to talk about things and to reach agreement. If you and your partner cannot talk or cannot agree on how to move forward then the law provides rules and processes to resolve these disputes. You will have an opportunity to make your own decisions with a mediator who will try to help you communicate with each other and identify options that you can agree on. In most situations you cannot file your case in court until you have made a genuine effort to resolve your dispute at mediation. If you have tried mediation but you still cannot agree your case may end up in court where a judge will make these decisions for you.

This Legal Guide on Children and Parenting provides parents, guardians, caregivers and relatives information about the different ways that arrangements can be made about children after a separation or divorce, information about child support and issues that arise if one or both parents want to relocate or travel overseas and information about going to court. Before making important decisions it is advisable to obtain legal advice specific to your situation. LegalEagle’s™ free directory profiles all lawyers in Australia. You can use it to Find a Lawyer near you.

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Warning: Information provided through LegalEagle™ is for general guidance. It is not legal advice. Laws and procedures referred to may change and differ between states, territories and nationally. There may also be important exceptions or qualifications. Only a lawyer providing formal legal advice can assess your particular circumstances to determine how the law will apply.