It’s an unfortunate reality that cheating is a common reason for couples separating today. If cheating doesn’t immediately result in the end of a relationship, it often causes significant distrust which eventually leads to the breakdown of the relationship.

One widely held misconception in family law is that, more or less, all of the assets and liabilities of a relationship will be divided 50/50. Many new clients come to us with the first line “I know that the starting point is a 50/50 split but…” This is not the case.

Often one party to a marriage or de facto relationship had property or cash before entering into the relationship. In other cases, one partner may have purchased a property or acquired an asset, which they consider to be their own and which they have devoted themselves to maintaining. One common misconception is that an asset that is solely owned by one party does not get taken into account in a property settlement, upon separation. This can also become an issue where one party purchases an asset, such as a property, after separation but before a property settlement has been finalised.

In today’s society, de-facto relationships are not so straight forward and “modern relationships” challenge the traditional ideas of a relationship.

In Western Australia, the Family Court Act 1997 (“Family Court Act”) governs de-facto relationships. When determining whether a relationship is de-facto, the Court must decide whether the relevant couple were living in a “marriage-like relationship”. One of the difficulties the Court faces is determining what is “marriage-like” especially in today’s society.