On 12 June 2024, the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (the FCFCOA) published an increase in filing fees as of 1 July 2024. That increase sees an Application for Divorce increase an additional $40 from an already expensive $1,060 to $1,100. To file an Initiating Application for interim and final orders in parenting or financial matters is now $570. An Initiating application for interim and final orders in both parenting and financial matters is $840. Court filing fees do not attract GST. If you have a concession card, or can demonstrate financial hardship, you may be ..read more

Today’s society often demands we give more of ourselves to things than we really have time or energy for. If you’re at the beginning—or any stage really—of a separation or divorce, that’s another thing you need to add to the energy taking mix. While we at Anchored Family Law are here to make your family law matters easier, we also understand that there are many things happening during an unsettling time. And, unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to find caring for and spending time on yourself slips right through the cracks. Here’s six no or low cost acts of self love you might find useful at any ..read more

UNSW pioneers new domestic violence framework Recently, LawyersWeekly contacted our director Emma Maxwell for comment on the ground breaking development of a domestic violence framework by UNSW academics, on behalf of the NSW Department of Communities and Justice. Read the full article here: https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/biglaw/39242-unsw-pioneers-new-domestic-violence-framework ..read more

Anchored Family Law has been named as a finalist in the LawyersWeekly Australian Law Awards 2023 in two categories – NewLaw Firm of the Year and Innovator of the Year (Company).  There were over 1,000 nominees across the Country in this years’ awards – the largest nominee group in the over two decades that the awards have been running.  The Australian Law Awards is the most highly regarded awards program across Australia, recognising excellence across the Australian legal sector. For over two decades these prestigious awards have continued to recognise those who strive to make the le ..read more

Our Director, Emma Maxwell, has a special interest in working with small business owners and protecting their business in the event of a relationship breakdown or divorce. As a small business owner, Emma understands just how much our businesses can feel like a part of us, and why it may be important to ensure that your business is protected. Emma recently contributed to Rural Entrepreneur Magazine on this topic. Her article can be viewed at page 62 of Issue 4 here ..read more

On 6 June 2022, Apple announced the new features that would be released with their ios16 release for iPhones. And family lawyers everywhere heard the sounds of some of their best evidence being destroyed or tampered with. You can check out the announcement here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5D55G7Ejs8 Essentially, the new feature is the ability to edit or recall sent messages after they’ve been sent. If you’ve ever participated in family law proceedings, you will know that there aren’t many Affidavits that are filed without the obligatory screenshots of at least one text message anne ..read more

At Anchored Family Law we offer only fixed fee services. And most of those prices are right here on our website. But how does that make us different? Most law firms charge clients based on the billable hour. Usually, a billable hour is ten 6-minute “units“. At those law firms, every time your lawyer reads an email, prepares a Court document, or advocates for you in Court, they then turn around and “time record” how many “units” that work took them to complete. Many lawyers, including me, find that, before long, their brain begins to track time in “billable units” and not minutes and hours like ..read more

ONE: Don’t hand over control of your finances. We get it, in most relationships there is one person that is better at money, or more organised, and gradually, over time, they are the ones that take over your family’s financials.  And we’re not saying that you shouldn’t play to your strengths when it comes to sharing the mental load of life. But if your partner is the one paying the bills and keeping an eye on the accounts, make sure you are regularly checking in on things – for example, a monthly financial review together with a glass of wine might be a really good idea. We’ve seen too ma ..read more

Our Director and Founder, Emma Maxwell, was thrilled to have this month’s spotlight at FamilyProperty feature Anchored Family Law. Read the full article here ..read more

It’s unlikely that many law firms share their office grounds with goats, horses and cattle. “I work from an office pod in my backyard. Early on, there were jokes from peers that I was working from a cubby house,” tells Emma Maxwell from her home on an acreage near Ballarat in Victoria. Read the full article here: https://www.thelaunchcollective.com.au/post/meet-the-woman-breaking-the-traditions-of-the-law ..read more