VIC Mediation and Court for Visitations with Daughter?

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Ellie_jay

Member
8 September 2018
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0
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My partner has a 4-year-old daughter who has now been unable to see for 6 months due to the child's mother refusing to let him visit. He has tried mediation with no success as she is not willing to negotiate at all.

Our next step is to get lawyers involved as we see no other option. We know that his ex will do anything possible to drag out this process for us as much as she can so it's likely to be very expensive for us (she is unemployed so will be able to access legal aid and we will not).

We have been given an estimated figure from a lawyer who said this could blow out to $50,000. This figure seems so high to me and I have no idea how average people could afford to pay that.

Just wondering how much others in similar situations have ended up paying? Any help is appreciated.

Thank you!
 

sammy01

Well-Known Member
27 September 2015
5,152
720
2,894
This website is a good start... You can self-represent and do it all for minimal costs. Yep $50 000 is easy to spend. It is appalling that good people have to spend that just to see their kids.

So yep she will get legal aid... But if she behaves like a twit, legal aid will stop funding her. Do a google search "how to self represent in family law in Australia" and ask lots of questions on this site.
 

Migz

Well-Known Member
20 November 2016
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719
Ellie_Jay how far apart do the parents live? You shouldn't be paying more than $15,000 all up and even then its just extortion. My opinion is to get a Lawyer for your first hearing and then again for Trial. All of the cases in between just self rep, and save your money. You can do most of the paperwork yourself at the start, what you need in place is decent "interim orders" and as the child is only 4 y.o. you need to allow for growth in time.
 

Hummingbird

Well-Known Member
1 August 2018
32
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Make an appointment with a lawyer first and get some advice suited to your situation. The court may order a mediation, dispute resolution, and/or family report before it will allow you to proceed to trial, but the sooner you take the 60i certificate and apply to the court for parenting orders, the better. Our costs are also looking at around $15,000 and thats from first appt to completion of trial - we're in the middle of the process so far though so that's an estimate but we have spent maybe just less than $5,000 so far for everything and that's including interim orders and lots of communication between lawyers for high conflict and relocation issues.

We pay retainers along the way for expenses and then are billed for the court appearances We earn good money so are very lucky to afford it, but no matter how you to choose to go at least get advice before you start filing things and make sure you know how it works.

Also, while your ex may be covered by legal aid now, if it goes to trial they may assess her case and determine that she fails the merit test by not presenting a factual case, or has a low chance of success; in either case they could choose not to represent her.