I have a friend whose spouse has left them. My friend doesn’t have much money now. What family law advice can you give?

It is a tragedy that in Australia, something up to 50% of marriages break down. Marriage breakdown is extremely stressful for all parties.

Our experience is that about 1 in 4 marriage breakdowns involve some sort of addictive behaviour by one of the parties. Maybe it is gambling. Maybe it is alcohol or other drug dependency. We help see clients whose spouse has been physically violent or financially abusive or repeatedly verbally abusive. This can crush the sense of self-worth of some clients.

When one party leaves their spouse and refuses to provide financial help for them, that is made worse if there is illness or other inability to earn enough income. We see lots of family law clients. We don’t handle divorces at all, but we actively push parties to independent mediation regarding children and property issues. Mediation is usually much better (and cheaper) than going to Court to resolve issues.  Through alternative dispute resolution, we have been able to help many people sort out their disputes about children and matrimonial property issues, without going to Court. As a result, they have saved thousands of dollars.

Counsel@CrossCulture is open to everyone. You don’t have to attend a church to attend Counsel@CrossCulture.  Legal Counselling as well as individual and couple relationship counselling is available.

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Pastor Mike Kirkpatrick, Lawyer / Legal Counsellor
BA, LLB, M.Div;  T. 9639 3875; 0432 339 582; E. mike@legalcc.net.au

Appointments may also be made online at:
http://appointment.counselcc.net.au.

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