Gordon & Barry Lawyers specialise in divorce and family law. We hear both sides of the story when it comes to making a full and frank disclosure in family law proceedings! Some of our clients have strong reasons for keeping information to themselves. Others are certain that their ex-partner is hiding something important. Recent family law cases show how common this issue is. They also show the serious approach that Family Law Courts take in response to this issue.
First, we need to look at your obligations to make a full and frank disclosure. What does that even mean?
The duty of full disclosure extends to both parenting and financial matters.
In a parenting matter, you must disclose everything that is relevant to the case in a timely manner. This is an ongoing requirement at all stages of the case, not just a once-off obligation. You may need to disclose information about your children, such as their school or medical reports. You may also need to disclose information about your personal health and living arrangements. What is relevant to your parenting case will depend on your family’s circumstances.
In financial cases, you are must provide full and frank disclosure of your financial situation. This may include your earnings, assets and financial resources. It also includes information about other entities, such as companies or trusts, that may be relevant to your financial situation.
Sometimes it can be really difficult to know what you need to disclose. You can rely on Gordon & Barry Lawyers to help you fill out the Court's forms, reply to requests for information from the other party, and identify any relevant information that you may need to disclose. However, our ability to help you depends on how open and honest you are with us! It is better to tell us about any issues that worry you at an early stage so we can help you assess whether this is information you need to disclose.
Failing to disclose important information can have very serious consequences for your Family Law matter. In the recent case of Lindner & Lindner [2017] FamCA 498, the Court made a costs order against the husband even though there was little doubt that the wife was in a better overall financial position. In this case the husband had failed to comply with his obligation to make full disclosure. He submitted that this was because he was suffering from depression. As a result, the wife was forced to hunt out the missing information by issuing subpoenas. She had to instruct an accountant to attempt to reconstruct the figures, trying to work out what the real situation was. The Court held that this greatly increased the wife’s costs. (It was not possible to accurately identify what her costs would have been if the husband had fulfilled his obligations.) In the end, the husband had to pay an extra $50,000 as a contribution to the wife’s legal costs. The husband could have avoided this additional cost - and the entire costs of the appeal - if he had provided the relevant information upfront!
In another recent case of Beatty & Beatty [2017] FCCA 463, it was the wife who had failed to fully disclose relevant information about her financial affairs. She claimed that this was because she had lost trust in the husband due to his long-term drug use, which had been a significant drain on the family’s finances over a number of years. The Court found that the wife had manipulated funds away from joint ownership and control and that this value should be added back into the pool. It was a difficult exercise to calculate how much should be added back, given the wife’s lack of transparency.
The general principle guiding the Court was that “once it has been established that there has been a deliberate non-disclosure… then the Court should not be unduly cautious about making findings in favour of the innocent party. To do otherwise might be thought to provide a charter for fraud in proceedings of this nature.”
We understand that Family Law matters are complicated. There are often strong emotions involved, and a long-standing pattern of mistrust against the other party. In these stories, we see how failing to comply with your obligations to make full and open disclosure of your circumstances can go against you in the long run.
That is where we come in. You can trust Gordon & Barry Lawyers to review all the information that you provide. We can help you make an informed decision about what it is in your best interests to disclose. This ensures that you comply with your obligations and maximise your chances of a successful outcome. Contact us today to find out how we can assist you in identifying and obtaining the information you need to disclose.