Sounds like a script from Two and a Half Men…

It’s funny how many cases are now being published that it is almost impossible to keep up. I use this excuse because I have only just stumbled across a Family Court case published in May, which sounded like a script from Two and a Half Men. Mr Tristan was married and in 1978 he was… Read More »Custom Single Post Header

Family Law Section Law Council of Australia Award
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Family law Practitioners Association
International Academy of Family Lawyers - IAFL
Mediator Standards Board

Sounds like a script from Two and a Half Men…

It’s funny how many cases are now being published that it is almost impossible to keep up. I use this excuse because I have only just stumbled across a Family Court case published in May, which sounded like a script from Two and a Half Men.

Mr Tristan was married and in 1978 he was posted by work to Arizona where for about a month he had non-stop partying and drinking.

And then , many years later, after he had divorced his wife (they were separated in 78) and remarried, US government officials showed him another marriage certificate with his name on it – from Arizona in 1978, and yes he knew the woman. He had absolutely no recollection of that marriage or even of discussing marriage. The “wife” named on the certificate apparently had since remarried.

Why it interested US government officials was because they pointed out that when he married his current girlfriend that marriage was bigamous (and void) because of the Arizona “marriage”.

When the matter came before Justice Brown in the Family Court, her Honour had no hesitation in declaring the marriage a nullity because at the time of the Arizona “marriage” Mr Tristan was already married.

Things to Read, Watch & Listen

Forced Marriage

On November 1st 2023, Accredited Family Law Specialist and Page Provan Director Stephen Page presented a paper at the Brisbane Zonta Club about forced marriage. I acknowledge the Jagera and Turrbal peoples, on whose lands we meet today, their elders, past, present and emerging. Ruqia Hidari was aged 21 and living in Victoria, when, according to police,… Read More »Forced Marriage

ACT Government Surrogacy Bill

The ACT Government has today introduced a bill to amend the ACT’s surrogacy laws. The proposed changes are more incremental than fundamental. They include allowing a single person to undertake surrogacy, for the surrogate to be single if needed, a requirement for legal advice and counselling beforehand, a written agreement being required, that traditional surrogacy is… Read More »ACT Government Surrogacy Bill

Planning to resolve: ADR in ART

ADR can help resolve disputes in ART cases. ADR is not limited to mediation and arbitration. Other types of informal dispute resolution can resolve disputes. When assisted reproductive treatment cases go off the rails, they can have the next level of bitterness and volatility. There can be a keen sense of betrayal when things don’t… Read More »Planning to resolve: ADR in ART