Hi Tasmin,
I can only give my experience from the WA family court, so am unsure if it is the same as QLD.
We had 5 properties with equity to divide.
My EX had an affair, then moved in with her new partner. She refused to contribute more than 20% to the joint mortgages, even though the children moved in with me fulltime and she was living with a new partner(in one of our properties). who had an income which was more than double on what I received.
The partner had to produce income and asset statements for the business he owned for an affidavit .Saying this, the court (WA) did not take into account his income (it was not considered joint income), the fact that he was living in one of my properties rent free or that he was taking her on multiple overseas holidays, between her leaving me and the court case.
They only took into account her circumstances and excluded any contributions from him as well as supported her with her lack of financial contribution, even though at the time she was earning a higher income and the children were with me and she also had the partners income.
I would suggest to get this done as well as affidavits from family members who may have helped you financially or witnessed any adverse events.
I believe your new partners affidavit should not have any adverse effects on your settlement, but get advice on this. As your new partner is helping with your children, my thoughts are that could be of some benefit.
I suggest you keep a diary of all contact with your Ex and if possible keep it to emails/letter etc as some documentary proof.
Also I suggest to get some advice on the process, as I was told the affidavit was all that would be considered by the court; but as I found out; 'hearsay' from my Ex on the court appearance, was taken into account in the final decision without any proof, documentation and obviously not in the Affidavit.
I also was in the situation where my EX's partner was found lying in his affidavit when cross examined. I'm old school and thought this was a major turning point at the discovery of the lies, but the lies were ignored and in fact had a negative effect for myself at the settlement. I suggest you look into that as well, as QLD may not allow false affidavit statements and unlike WA and you may be able lucky enough to take action should this happen.
My experience is, the best talker wins.
Keep everything honest in the affidavit; but you still need to present with confidence and gather every piece of documentary proof of relevant financial matters. I suggest you sit in on some court cases. It may help you understand, what you can expect in your own case.
If your reduced capacity to work is based on care of children, then you should have a valid claim. The age of our children were taken into account, but as they were ages 15 & 17 the court didn't consider the cost of the future care to be taken into account with the final asset split.
If you can avoid court...do so. No one wins but the lawyers. My children suffered from the final decision. Think very carefully about your children in this process as they are more important than equity. If you don't understand the process, it has the potential to destroy a period of the children's lives.
I hope this of some assistance.
Regards
Jeff
