There are particular requirements for service of divorce applications and a number of documents which must be filed with the court to prove that an applicant’s former spouse has received the divorce application in the correct manner.

Here we answer some common questions in relation to service of an application for divorce.

Recently there have been changes to the Family Law Act 1975 (the Act), via the Family Law Amendment Act 2023 (FLAA) about parenting matters. Most of the changes as a result of the FLAA will take effect from 6 May 2024.

The Federal Treasurer has announced sweeping reforms to the merger laws following persistent pressure from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for reform.

Harwood Andrews is delighted to have been identified by clients and peers for expertise and abilities in two areas for Victoria in the 2024 Doyles Guide.

In Australia marriage is defined as “the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life”. When that union has broken down with no reasonable prospect of a reconciliation the law allows for a mechanism to dissolve the union. This is known as a divorce. A divorce changes your legal status. 

Harwood Andrews today announced the commencement of a significant office renovation project at their Geelong CBD premises at 70 Gheringhap Street Geelong. The design of this space has been done to foster collaboration, innovation, and exceptional client service.

This ruling from the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the Tribunal) serves as an important reminder for ensuring that discretionary trust deeds are appropriately amended to prevent the activation of "foreign" land transfer (stamp) duty and land tax surcharges

As Victoria follows the rest of the world in shifting towards green electricity, it is inevitable that more power transmission lines will be needed.  Which means power companies will be asking more and more landowners across regional and rural Victoria for access to their land, and then to build transmission towers.

From 9 November 2023, consumers and small businesses have had increased protection from unfair contract terms contained in standard form contracts under the Australian Consumer Law and Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).  We wrote generally about these protections in our update Constructing a fair contract can save you millions.

From 1 July 2024, a new state taxes regime commences for certain commercial and industrial properties. Upfront land transfer (stamp) duty will be phased out in lieu of a new annualised Commercial and Industrial Property Tax (New Tax).

We are all too familiar with the growing number of data breaches in both Australia and abroad. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) recently issued its Notifiable Data Breaches Report (Report) for June 2023 to December 2023, revealing some concerning findings.

Under the Australian Consumer Law and ASIC Act, the spotlight is now shining on unfair contract terms, and function venues, wineries and venue operators should take note.

A transfer of real property from a superannuation fund to a beneficiary of the fund

Stay legally on track with our free Terms & Conditions Traffic Light Review— green for compliance, red flags for caution.

When going through a separation, it is important that you and your former spouse formalise a final property settlement and take the necessary steps to ensure that your financial ties to each other are cut. However, the process of negotiating and ideally reaching an agreement for a property settlement, making it binding and then implementing the agreement can often take some time.

In a landmark move aimed at addressing the national housing crisis, the first tender for the federal government’s Housing Australia Future Fund Facility (HAFFF) and National Housing Accord Facility (NHAF) is now open. The core objective of these programs is to finance new, high quality and well located social and affordable housing to address the current national housing crisis.

Harwood Andrews is thrilled to announce the addition of esteemed commercial and property lawyer, Briget O’Callaghan, and her colleague Evelyn Zeglinas, to its growing team. Briget and Evelyn bring a wealth of experience and a proven record of accomplishment to the firm, further solidifying its position as a leader in the property law space.

We are delighted to announce the promotion of Emma Buchanan, Emma has a long association with Harwood Andrews and has been of tremendous value-sharing focus between Property law and Precedents review and development. Please join us in congratulating Emma on this incredible achievement to special counsel.

The VCAT ruling of Baullo v Commissioner of State Revenue [2023] VCAT 1164 (Baullo), has reaffirmed the position of the State Revenue Office (SRO) that forgiving beneficiary loans in relation to a distribution of property from a discretionary trust to a beneficiary will prohibit utilisation of the exemption to land transfer (stamp) duty afforded by section 36A of the Duties Act 2000 (Act).

The ‘executor’s year’ is the general principle that the personal representatives of an estate, be it the executors or administrators (in the case of an intestacy), have one year from the date of death of the person whose estate is being administered, to administer the estate.