18 Oct Pre-action Procedures Property
As a general rule, there is a requirement for parties to a financial family law dispute to make a genuine attempt to resolve the dispute before taking the step of commencing Court proceedings. Parties will generally be seen to be making a genuine attempt to resolve a dispute if they comply with the Pre-action procedures outlined at Schedule 1 to the recently commenced Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth) (“the Rules”).
Summarised, the pre-action procedures under the Rules require parties to make full and frank disclosure, exchange a schedule of assets, income and liabilities, ensure receipt by all parties of a copy of Schedule 1, and inquire about and invite the other parties to attend dispute resolution if appropriate.
If appropriate dispute resolution is not available, a party refuses to attend or parties do attend but do not resolve their dispute, a party wishing to take the dispute to Court can only do so after providing a written notice of their intention to start a proceeding. That notice must set out the issues in dispute, the orders that will be sought, make a genuine offer to resolve the issues in dispute, and otherwise nominate a time that is at least 14 days within which the party receiving the notice must reply.
The pre-action procedures are designed to encourage early and inexpensive resolution of disputes, resulting in fewer Applications to the Court and less delay for those matters that do require such an Application.