Online family lawyer — anywhere in Australia

Most family law work never needs you in a room with your lawyer. Divorce applications (sole or joint), consent orders for property and parenting, Binding Financial Agreements, property settlement negotiations, parenting plans and spousal maintenance can all be run by video consultation, email and electronically signed documents.

Where a document has to be witnessed — a divorce application, an affidavit, consent orders — a Justice of the Peace or solicitor near you can witness it, or it can be done electronically where the court permits. Applications are filed online, so the court process is the same whether you're in Parramatta, Toowoomba or Fremantle. If a hearing is needed, I appear at the registry that serves your area by video link where the court permits, or in person where the matter requires it; where local counsel is needed for a particular hearing, I brief them, so you are never managing two sets of lawyers.

1. A free 30-minute consultation by video or phone. You tell me what's happening; I tell you honestly where you stand, what the realistic pathways are, and whether you need a lawyer at all for the next step.

2. Your fee in writing. If you'd like me to act, you receive a written costs disclosure before any work starts — a fixed fee where the matter can sensibly be priced upfront, or an estimate with the variables explained where it can't.

3. The work, done remotely. Documents are drafted and sent to you by email, signed electronically or witnessed locally, and filed online. You get updates by email and phone, and you can reach me directly — there is no team of junior lawyers in between.

Court fees for divorce and consent orders are set nationally by the Federal Circuit and Family Court, so outside WA they are the same in every state: $1,125 to file for divorce ($375 with a concession) and $205 for consent orders.

My fees don't carry an interstate premium. As a guide, the fixed-fee packages start at $1,500 for an uncontested divorce application, $2,750 for consent orders and $4,400 for a straightforward Binding Financial Agreement — see the full list on the packages page. Your own fee is confirmed in writing after the free 30-minute consultation, once it's clear what your matter actually needs.

WA is the one state with its own family court. Divorce, parenting and married couples' property matters in WA are dealt with by the Family Court of Western Australia, which sets its own fees and procedures, and property disputes between de facto partners in WA are governed by WA law rather than the federal Act.

That doesn't put WA clients out of reach — I advise WA clients by video and appear at the Perth registry by video link where the court permits — but it does mean the forms, fees and some of the rules differ, and I'll tell you at the first consultation exactly which apply to you.

A few related areas are governed by state law and are best handled locally: protection orders (AVOs in NSW, DVOs in Queensland, intervention orders in Victoria), conveyancing of property in your state, and wills and estates. If your situation involves family violence, your safety comes first — call 000 in an emergency, or 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) for confidential support — and I'll help you work out what needs to happen locally and what I can do from here.

If property is being transferred between you as part of a settlement, each state has its own stamp duty rules. Most exempt transfers made under family law orders or a Binding Financial Agreement, but the conditions vary, so this is something we check for your state before the orders are finalised.