Family

10 Ways To Personalise A Loved One’s Funeral

Posted on November 14, 2023December 3, 2024 by beyondbparis

One thing that funeral directors are fully aware of when arranging a funeral for a family’s departed loved one is that the need to make that funeral personalised is likely to be high on the list of requests made of them. Whilst funeral directors will happily accommodate such requests, the key point is that the departed’s family and friends are more critical to any personalisation than the funeral director.

We say that for the simple reason that funeral directors, except in rare circumstances, will not have known the deceased; therefore, they will not know any specifics about them and, thus, what would make the funeral personal to them. Below, are ten ways to personalise a loved one’s funeral.

Follow The Deceased’s Wishes: Many people now pre-plan their funeral or at least give their wishes for what type of funeral they want. As such, ensure that those wishes are followed and that the funeral you have for them is as close as possible to what they would have liked.

Speak To As Many People As Possible Who Knew The Deceased: For anyone who has passed, there will be family members, friends, colleagues, and others in their social circle who have stories to tell about them, hopefully positive ones. Speak to as many people as possible to bring those stories together during the funeral or life celebration.

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Eligibility And Evidence Requirements For A Partner Visa

Posted on September 23, 2021September 28, 2021 by beyondbparis

For anyone who has a partner or spouse living in Australia and wishes to join them here, it will be necessary to obtain a partner visa. It should be noted that there is not just one type of partner visa there are several if you include the subclasses of partner visas. The visa which applies to any individual depends upon the specific circumstances of the applicant, and the basis upon which they wish to live and/or work in Australia.

It is critically important that anyone applying for a partner visa has all the correct facts including knowing which type of partner visa they need. Applying for the wrong visa may not only delay an application but in the worst-case scenario, could see it be rejected. For these reasons every applicant should seek the help and advice of immigration experts before they begin their partner visa application.

Partner Visa Types

Here are summaries of partner visas including their subclasses, we recommend contacting an expert such as www.successmigration.com.au for more information.

Partner Visa Subclass 309 and Subclass 100

The 309 subclass is a provisional visa allowing an applicant to live in Australia temporarily until their permanent partner visa is granted. The 100 subclass is the permanent partner visa which follows the 309 subclass. These subclasses can only be applied for if the candidate is currently located outside Australia. Process times for 309 subclass is between 13 and 18 months, whereas for the 100 subclass the time is between 19 and 39 months.

Partner Visa Subclass 820 and Subclass 801

Th 820 subclass is a temporary partner visa that needs to be applied for before obtaining permanent visa subclass 801. Contrary to the previous partner visa subclasses, the 820 and 801 subclasses can only be applied for if the applicant is currently located in Australia. Both subclasses must be applied for at the same time. Expected process times are between 21 and 25 months.

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Why Most Couples Who Divorce Do Not Go To Court

Posted on May 4, 2021August 8, 2024 by beyondbparis

One of the biggest surprises that clients get when they first meet with their divorce lawyers is the news that it is unlikely to go to court. In fact, for every 10 clients a divorce lawyer represents, it will be unusual if any more than 1 of them end up having their divorce settlement determined by a judge sitting in a family court.

There are many reasons for this but perhaps the main one is the principle in Australian family law that the grounds for divorce can only be an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. This means that in effect neither spouse has the finger of blame pointing to them as being the cause of the divorce.

Now, in reality, that might not be the case, and it could be that one of the spouses has been unfaithful, or they drink excessively, or worse, have become violent towards their partner. However, as regrettable as all of those behaviours are, none of them will be cited as the reason for the divorce, and thus no blame is apportioned.

This is different from jurisdictions in other countries where divorce is often seen as a battle which must be won in order to prove that the other spouse is the ‘bad’ one. This means that there is usually little chance of the couple sitting down and being able to negotiate a settlement. Instead, they invariably end up in the arena of the court where the blame game is played out.

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5 Ways To Make Moving House In The Heat of Summer Bearable

Posted on April 19, 2021April 19, 2021 by beyondbparis

Whilst you may be able to pick which house you are moving to, your Melbourne removalists, and even the wallpaper that you are going to hang in your new living room, one thing you cannot choose is the weather on the day of your move. You might also be constrained in terms of the date you can move, or the time of year you move, and this may mean moving at the height of the summer.

Many activities are suited to the summer such as cricket, tennis, and swimming, but house moving, for most people, is not fun when temperatures are high. For this reason, we thought we would help out with our top 5 tips for making moving house during the hot summer months, more bearable for all.

#1 Wear The Right Clothing

This is sound advice for a lot of activities, but it is especially true for when you are moving house in the summer heat. Loose-fitting clothing made from materials which are breathable can help keep any sweating to a minimum. For this reason sports clothing is a great choice. Wearing brightly coloured clothes also helps.

Clothes to avoid are those which are tight-fitting, have dark colours, and are made from materials such as polyester which simply traps the heat around your body.

#2 Drink Lots Of Fluids

One of the biggest problems you and anyone who is with you can have when moving house on a hot, sunny day is a lack of hydration. In the worst cases, it can lead to heat exhaustion which is hardly the best start to life in your new home.

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What Happens If You Want To Change Your Child’s Name After Divorce?

Posted on January 7, 2021May 8, 2021 by beyondbparis

If you are divorced and have any children there may come a point that might wish to change the name of those children, and if so, given the legal complexities, you should certainly consult your family lawyers.

The reason for that is that even though you may have sole responsibility for the child, there are a number of legal requirements that must be met before you will be allowed to change the name of your child.

Let us start with how the basic process works in Western Australia, and in the first instance, you would only make an application here if that is where the child’s birth was registered. If their birth was registered in a different state, your application needs to be made there.

If they were registered in WA, your application needs to be sent to the Western Australian Registry of Birth Deaths and Marriages. It is here where the registrar will make the ultimate decision with regard to your application.

It should be noted that there are several different application forms which are each applicable to the specific reason why you wish to change your child’s name, and what details you wish to change. This which refers to whether it is their first name, or their family name that is changing.

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Never Mind The Kids – Who Gets Custody Of Our Pets After Divorce?

Posted on December 23, 2020June 30, 2021 by beyondbparis

For anyone going through a divorce, it can be the case that everything is agreed amicably including finances, property settlement, and arrangements for the children and that the work of each divorce lawyers is merely to facilitate the agreement by drawing up the divorce papers and submitting them to the family Court to be approved.

No doubt many a family lawyer is reading this and saying, ‘If only’, because there are many divorces that take a different path where each spouse refuses to accept the other’s proposal for a divorce settlement and ultimately the matter needs to be resolved by going to the Family Court.

Often the most contentious issues revolve around the arrangement for children and in some cases, it will be the property settlement that the two parties are haggling over. There is one matter, however, that few people think of being a contentious issue until they themselves have had to face it, and that the question of what happens to any pets that the divorcing couple own.

Whilst the Family Law Act of 1975 has paragraph upon paragraph about how the law wants the best interests of children being served with regards to any arrangements made for them, but rightly or wrongly, the legislators of the time did not think to apply the same criteria to pets.

We say that with our tongue in our cheek as the idea that children are pets are on an equal footing when it comes to how the law would want to protect their welfare is not a serious one. At least that might the view within the legal universe, but just ask any pet owner how much they love and adore their pet, and it will become clear that they certainly want their pet’s welfare to be looked after.

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Why Relocating With Your Children After Divorce Might Not Be Possible

Posted on November 8, 2020June 30, 2021 by beyondbparis

One of the issues that all family lawyers will have had to deal with at some time, and probably on more than one occasion, is where a client wishes to relocate with their children following a divorce.

Many parents are under the misconception that simply because when the divorce was finalised in court the order was that the children live with them that they have the right to take the children to live anywhere they choose. That is simply not the case.

The first hurdle they face is that in Australia, family law does not normally grant what would be described as custody of any children when a marriage ends. Instead, the principle of equal parental responsibility applies. This means that any of the major decisions relating to the children needs to be discussed between both parents.

More importantly, no decision should be implemented until both parents have agreed to it. This applies to areas of the child’s life such as their health, their education, and where they live.

Expanding on the point about where they live, it does not necessarily mean that a father, for example, will strongly object to the mother moving from one property to another, if it is still in the same area.

However, if the mother plans to move with the children to a different city many miles away, or even to a different territory, that’s where family law draws a line.

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