Arbitration Lawyers Sydney

Arbitration is a non-judicial process in which an Arbitrator will make a binding determination to resolve a dispute between parties either before or after proceedings are issued. The outcome reached by the Arbitrator will be based on arguments and evidence presented by the parties involved. An expert may attend to provide evidence, and parties may have lawyers representing them.

Arbitration can be limited to a single issue or can encompass a complex financial settlement.

This provides the best opportunity for parties to move on with their lives following their separation and focus on caring for their children (quite often with the support of the other party to the arbitration), obtaining or maintaining employment and providing for their future.

This all comes with a practical warning. It is not unusual in some cases for one party to want to take advantage of the delays in the Family Court System. One example includes where such a party may wish to retain the family home (including so they do not have to incur stamp duty to buy a new home if forced to do so) and which is depreciating in price due to market conditions, and as a result they are able to more readily obtain finance if the property has a lower value.

Therefore, their whole game plan might be to resist a faster and even cheaper outcome (including with reducing legal fees that keep building up over time) that might be obtained through Arbitration.

However if the parties are both minded to Arbitrate, and in circumstances where it is not unusual in NSW to await almost 3 even 4 years after filing Court proceedings before a Court is able to hear your matter at a final hearing, in many (but not all) cases, a prompt decision may be able to be reached in as little as 2-3 months from the time parties first appoint an Arbitrator and then upon receiving their determination after Arbitration has taken place.

A court is unable itself to force parties to Arbitrate (due to limitations arising from the Australian Constitution), although the Family Law Act permits the registering of an Arbitrator’s determination as a Court order and which is then enforceable.

Our experienced  Sydney family lawyers are continually vigorous in their efforts to persuade or have protracted family law financial related disputes resolved by Arbitration.