All parenting and financial matters, including residence, contact, property division and child support matters settlements including complex settlements involving Corporations, Trusts and farming properties; Injunctions and Restraint Orders; Criminal Injuries Compensation.

Bishops can bring clarity at a difficult time

Family and Relationships Law is a highly complex area which requires specialist knowledge, resources and a genuine interest in people and their problems.

Family and Relationships Law clients are best served by solicitors who practice predominantly in that area of law, backed up by others in the firm with skills and expertise in the many and varied areas of law that can become involved when the division of property and assets becomes necessary.

Bishops provides a comprehensive range of services to give their clients specialist advice and representation.

The areas of service include:

• Marriage and relationship breakdown and general advice about the law, procedure and costs
• Property division including:      
•         -Companies
•         -Trusts
•         -Partnerships
•         -Business relationships
•         -Superannuation
• Residence and Contact (custody and access)
• Spousal maintenance and Child Support
• Registration of Deeds of Relationship and Declarations of Relationship
• Binding Financial Agreements, Personal Relationship arrangements and separation agreements

You can rely on Your Friends-In-Law

Divorce is a time of change for families. It is a time of great emotional upheaval. Disagreements that have caused the relationship breakdown can be intensified by conflicts over the children and the division of property and financial arrangements.

This is a time often characterised by anger, hurt and fear. How conflicts are resolved will set the scene for future relationships, which often must continue because of the joint interest parties continue to have in the welfare of their children.

At Bishops we understand that there will be strong feelings which need to be resolved. Our experience also shows us that settlements which are reached by one party winning and the other losing rarely last. They often lead to enduring conflict.

The Bishops approach considers all of these important matters. While it is necessary for people to feel that their rights are given recognition, this does not necessarily require a traditional trial in Court.

The people at Bishops seek to find solutions that suit their clients. We find that mediation which is most often the primary method of dispute resolution, helps best to isolate dispute issues, develop options, consider alternatives and reach a consensual settlement, that will accommodate each persons needs. Mediation is a process which emphasises the participants own responsibilities for making decisions that affect their lives.

In addition to mediation, arbitration and early neutral evaluation provide alternative means for resolving disputes.

Bishops offers sound advice

There are more myths and misconceptions circulating in the community about Family Law than any other area of Law. Relationship breakdown is traumatic enough without the added burden of uncertainty and worry about your legal rights. Bishops have friends-in-law you can turn to for guidance through the legal process. We can direct you to the other caring professions such as counselling and medical, and if necessary start and maintain legal proceedings.

Advice from well meaning, but untrained friends and relatives, may actually aggravate the situation by perpetuating illusions. We cannot solve your problems for you, but we can give you independent and accurate advice that will reduce the anxiety of uncertainty, promote your security and peace of mind and empower you to enforce your rights.

We are a firm that's friendly and helpful, reassuring and professional and never condescending. We offer you the expertise of three Lawyers practising in Family Law including our Managing Partner, Steve Bishop, whose family law credentials and experience are highly respected.