mala

hi all,

i am planning to arrive in early 2011 to victoria , box hill with my father 67y and 4y old daughter, both dependent on me. i validated by entry in april this year... i recently got divorced in my home country. my ex is currently in my home country on holiday but is resident in victoria.

i would like to know
1) Are the home country divorce terms valid australia?
2) is the child maintenance terms also valid in australia or do i have to file a new case in aus ?
3) can the child maintenance amount be altered here since the cost of living compared to my country is high... ex: one month's total expenses of child is like a few days of day care only in aus?

thanks in advance
mala

moneypenny20

I've moved this to the Australia Forum, you're likely to get more advice from those living here who may have experienced your problems.

mala

thanks MP...

anyone please?

moneypenny20

I don't know for a fact but I find it hard to believe that a divorce in the country in which the marriage took place would be deemed unlawful by Australia. I think you're safe on that point. No idea about the other questions though sorry.

mala

thanks again MP

mala

sigh.. bump

Scotty1

Can't imagine that the divorce, if validly done in home country, would ever be overturned in Oz, but not an expert on that point.

On maintenance issues, again not an expert but can tell you that a court order for maintenance in uk is not valid in Oz and CSA is responsible here for child maintenance issues. If a parent wants to enforce a uk order over here, they need to apply to Oz CSA. While it may be different in your home country, if both parties and the child is on Oz you should seek advice from an Oz family laywer on how the CSA would view your situation. I would have thought it worth asking if you can get an Oz maintainance provision. If your ex is still in home country, I doubt there would be much point as your home country's original maintenance order would apply.

This is a good place to start

http://www.csa.gov.au/index.aspx


However it would be better if you could reach mutual agreement with your ex on support level provided once you are in Oz.

Hope that helps

Scotty

mala

thanks scotty.. ex is in aus as well. right now in home country and not following court orders sadly the latest is that he refuses to share the cost of the the air ticket of the child .. as per the order he is to share 50% of the cost with me.

TiddlyPom

You need to consider this carefully here as it will be adjusted to the au exchange rate. I suspect you'd have to have the original orders reassessed in the country you were made if you were unhappy with the amount, but don't quote me on that. It's really down to your ex's earnings in the last financial year. The CSA here would leave him a certain amount of money to live on per year which is quite reasonable. If you lose due to the exchange rate, then that's not something which is really their issue but would mean you'd get C'link help if you were eligible.

Questions for you to check out:
Will you be resident or a citizen of Aus?
Are you eligible for single parent payment from Centrelink here in Aus?
As you are caring for your father, are you eligible for a carers payment from Centerlink?
Will you be working?
Will you be able to get childcare assistance from C'link as your daughter is 4?

Try this:
http://www.csa.gov.au/InternationalParents/FAQs.aspx

Hope this helps.

Dorothy

It's pretty unlikely that anyone here will know about Sri Lankan divorce law. You really should be speaking to a lawyer versed in family law issues.

TiddlyPom

Even if someone got married overseas D, they can still divorce in Australia or the country that they married in and it is still legal if they are citizen, resident etc.

The Family Law Act (1975) (Section 104 if you're interested in reading it) says that divorce is only NOT 'legal' if the marriage itself was proven to be illegal - ie one of the couple could be proved to have been denied natural justice.
It also says that divorce in overseas jurisdiction is valid as long as both parties agreed to it and one of the parties turned up in the court to have it processed.
It's not Sri Lankan law, it's Australian that matters.

mala

thanks guys for all your info.. could you also let me know if this maintenance things with CSA can happen if we lived in 2 states ?

TiddlyPom

The CSA is Federal so yes, it's fine if you both live in seperate states in Australia.