News from the Family Court
A wider view of 'family' contributions under de facto relationships legislation
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April 1998
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Abstract
A general feature of legislation regarding de facto relationships is that a court may adjust the entitlement of the partners to the property of either or both of them if they have lived together for a certain period, or if there is a child of the relationship. To reach a fair result, the court is to take account of both contributions to the parties' property and financial resources, and their contributions to the welfare of the family. In this article the author outlines both narrow and wider approaches to de facto legislation in recent cases under the De Facto Relationships Act 1984 (NSW).
A general feature of legislation regarding de facto relationships is that a court may adjust the entitlement of the partners to the property of either or both of them if they have lived together for a certain period, or if there is a child of the relationship. To reach a fair result, the court is to take account of both contributions to the parties' property and financial resources, and their contributions to the welfare of the family. In this article the author outlines both narrow and wider approaches to de facto legislation in recent cases under the De Facto Relationships Act 1984 (NSW).