Sue Thomson Solicitors in East Perth, Western Australia | Divorce & Family Lawyer

Sue Thomson Solicitors

Locality: East Perth, Western Australia

Phone: 61611685

Address: 1/100 Terrace Road 6004 East Perth, WA, Australia

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23.01.2022 This can be a difficult time for many people. What you see on Facebook with all the happy smiles is rarely reality. Everyone wants that special holiday that they imagine everyone else is enjoying. If you run around all December trying to catch up with every person you might ever have met, trying to keep everyone happy and still do a full days work and then run around to shop for Christmas, plan the family get together, bake, wrap presents, drink too much, nurse a hangover ev...ery morning, get little if any sleep for 4 weeks then expect to be alert and relaxed for that special family day when everyone else is feeling just as worn out - you most likely will be disappointed. Of course, if you make no plans, contact no one, prepare nothing, then you also cannot expect that ideal family to suddenly arrive Christmas morning. Be nice to yourself. Christmas is only one day of 365 each year. Try and spend it with those who have held your hand when you cried, brought you coffee when you were tired - all without being asked. These are the people who should matter in your life. But if you still drive yourself and your loved ones over the edge of reality this holiday season - we will be here to help you next year. We will be closed until 7 January but back then. Have a happy holiday.

22.01.2022 Good morning. Welcome to the hopefully post Covid 19 world in Australia. It does look a little different. At the moment we are still working remotely and meeting you via Zoom. This is working reasonably well. For coming into the office there are new rules so as yet please do not come in without notice. We will ask you to complete a short questionnaire to make sure you are not a risk to staff or other clients. And if you get sick within two weeks of coming in please also le...t us know immediately. (By email) We can them quarantine any staff you has contact with. Then when you come in we will do a non contact temperature check and spray your shoes. (Shoes walk through who knows what and are a serious vehicle for contamination) You will then be asked to sanitize your hands. ( we have sanitizer) We are strictly enforcing the distance rule and this works although it may seem artificial to begin. Court matters are so far by telephone but we expect this will open up soon. We thank you for your continued support and understanding. We have to make sure we don’t get unwell and don’t inadvertently spread this disease to other clients. Family law clients are under stress so this makes us all more vulnerable to this virus. While you may be well someone else may be more susceptible. We want to all be here and healthy when we finally defeat this virus. 1- 2% of the population doesn’t sound a lot but one in ten would include someone in your family or friends. We don’t want anyone we know to be affected and we are sure that you don’t either. We asked ourselves the question - who of our family would it be okay if they died? And the answer was no one. Mmmm. No. Not even him. Remember if your ex gets sick the chances are so will you and even your kids - as you have regular contact already with hangovers for child contact. Remember wash your hands and your kids hands -often. Soap is cheap. Please use it. Often. Welcome everyone and we are here to help. We know the isolation has caused problems for many of you so please don’t hesitate to call us.

19.01.2022 ***PSA - WARNING: Extremely Graphic Suicide Video on TikTok*** A graphic suicide has appeared on social media platforms today, prompting parents to remain vigilant with their children’s social media usage. The video features a graphic suicide by gunshot, and may cause extreme distress for children who see it. Parents are being encouraged to talk to their children to determine whether they have viewed this content, and to limit social media usage until the video has been remov...ed. The advice for parents is to monitor their devices when kids get home from school this afternoon. Families are urged to follow these three steps to help keep their kids safe online: 1. Secure household devices by setting passcodes and restrictions on all devices. 2. Supervise children online and monitor the material they are accessing. 3. Sit Down and have an open conversation with your child about the material they may see online. There have been reports this content has also been posted on youtube so parents should be vigilant about all social media platforms while the platforms work to ensure the content is removed. See more

17.01.2022 Greetings everyone. Today I head back to Perth after a week away. Compulsory learning for lawyers makes sure we are kept up to date on changes to the law and how it operates in Perth so we can better look after your interests. Hopefully I am refreshed. I will be back on Monday no doubt to a large pile of emails waiting for me. Some new things to be aware of are the new rules about cross examining in the Family Court. From September your ex cannot personally question you in... Court if there has been domestic violence. Rules apply so please ask us about this. But it is a great step forward and will stop the fear of telling the Court your story and also prevent further abuse in the pretext of the courtroom. For self represented litigants you will need a lawyer or you will not be able to ask questions of your ex in court. Again rules apply but there is legal aid (regardless of your circumstances but again some rules apply) available for a lawyer for you in these cases. Make your enquires early as the Court may not allow you to adjourn a trial because you are now prepared. The word from the judiciary is that you have been warned. Talk to us if you think this affects you.

16.01.2022 The Hon Justice Gail Sutherland is our new Chief Judge of the WA Family Court. The first female to hold this position since the Courts inception 43 years ago. She spoke to the Law Society magazine recently and answered a number of questions. She noted that ‘the court faces the challenge of resources over demand and asked if it was appropriate for the Court to allocate resources to decide interim matters like a trip to Bali simply because the parties could not agree and also... to allow frequent interim applications to incrementally increase time with the children where the time was already adequate to maintain a meaningful relationship and where such applications used resources that could otherwise be applied to final trials and reduce the wait time between starting a case and reaching the final trial’ . Already many cases are only being permitted one interim hearing. Unless of course there are serious issues of harm to the children. So will it reduce the delay to trial or merely restrict interim court access?

15.01.2022 Happy holidays everyone ! The hard border of WA will be open to all our fellow Australians from Christmas Day. Please remember social distancing and hand hygiene. Yes a vaccination is nigh and we don’t have community spread here in WA. But no one wants to be sick over the holidays. We will close on 22 December until 7 January. It’s been a tough year for everyone. Some had the stress of no job and others worked right through the year without a holiday. But we worked togeth...er as a community and so far have got through 2020. Let’s keep the lessons we have learned. 1. We miss each other when we cannot see each other face to face ; 2. The kids need to go to school for the sake of parental sanity; 3. Love and family are the most important things in life. Family Law helps you sort out arrangements after you separate but cannot replace your humanity and love. Please remember you rarely hate someone you never loved. As parents the example we give to our children forms the basis of social culture. The relationship your children have with their other parent is different to the adult one you have. And parents - just because you have fallen out of love with your spouse you have not fallen out of love with your children. They are not pawns for revenge but your future - your familial legacy. Perhaps a rule for 2021. Every thought of hate for your ex means an hour you must volunteer for a shelter or charity. Every action of retaliation means you give up a day of your time to a charity. People are in need and have a lot of genuine difficulties. The example you provide will be the story your children tell their grandchildren. As usual if you have a genuine emergency and need our help over the break - email or text and we will do our best to help. Happy holidays everyone.

12.01.2022 Easter. Such a contrast of life. Some go fishing or camping. Some spend time celebrating the rebirth of Christ. But for some it’s a chance to take advantage of the empty houses and go on a stealing spree. Then on a drug spree. Some sit lonely and alone. But the eggs represent the rebirth of life. A restart a new beginning. Our search for hidden eggs represents our hunt for that life. No matter if you are so methodical you drive others nuts or need the warm cold freezing warmer clues - we find the eggs. Then we devour them. I like that metaphor. Happy Easter.

12.01.2022 It’s a really tough time of year for some But there is help for you. Please stay safe over the holidays. Lifeline Australia: 13 11 14 Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636... Kids Helpline: 1800 551 80 Emergency: 000 Confidential Helpline: 1800 737 732 Mensline: 1300 78 99 78 Relationships Australia: 1300 364 277 #itsokaynottobeokay #areyouok #youareloved

10.01.2022 The fathering project Reconnecting kids with their fathers. Let’s not over compensate by agitating for political gain but each father steps up for his children - as it’s meant to be. https://www.facebook.com/38437995542/posts/10163596050500543?vh=e&d=n&sfns=mo

09.01.2022 Warning. Only 3 weeks left! The first Friday in November (every year) is the last day to file in the Family Court of WA for Christmas parenting arrangements. 6 Nov 2020. Just 3 weeks to go. After that date you are unlikely to get a hearing before Christmas. Can you believe it? What a year we have shared. (Good bye 2020) But let’s prepare for the New Year. Christmas and the holidays are important for families and children. Let us help you make arrangements so that yet another level of confrontation is not added to your family.

09.01.2022 We are closed now until Monday 7 January 2019. Have a good break and try to be nice to people, don’t sweat the small stuff and look out for those that maybe don’t have family.

09.01.2022 https://www.abc.net.au//what-is-mine-is-yours-un/10726020

07.01.2022 In 6 weeks Christmas will be over and hopefully we will all be enjoying the post Christmas - pre NYE respite. Although maybe we have had too much family togetherness respite this year during all those lockdowns? But as the US clocks up 125000 new cases of COVID every day (!) here in WA we are all a little freaked out by the fortress border opening. Santa has his exemption already so many ask why? Make the most of the reunions but remember social distance even for families especially those from interstate wash your hands for the full 2 lots of Happy Birthday and stay safe. Oh and we are still here and open- to help you prepare and get your Christmas parenting arrangements sorted. Call us 08 6161 1685

07.01.2022 5 years ago I posted the below: Feeling humbled. Out shopping and happened to bump into the mother of my client and the client. Despite my efforts to get them court orders so they would see their little boy on Christmas morning, the father overheld their boy and they missed Christmas with him. I was devastated for them but could do nothing. But the mum came up to me and apologized for ruining my Christmas!!! because of the fathers antics. They both hugged me and thanked me... for my help. I have never felt so helpless. All I could mumble was I am sorry for your loss as the clients mum lost her best friend to cancer a week ago. They are the most amazing people. Then this year on Christmas Eve I saw them again in the same place. This time the not so little boy was helping his Grandma up over the curb onto the pathway. She has recently had knee replacement surgery. He was gentle and loving and where he belongs. Justice can seem out of reach especially during the holidays - but this story is real and it is one of mine. This is why we do this job and I thank them for sharing their happiness with me this Christmas.

06.01.2022 2020 is here. Congratulations you made it through Christmas. Nearing the end of January brings more stress for families. The credit card bill comes in and you have to start paying for all those purchases and at the same time it’s back to school and all those costs. These put further pressure on relationships. First step is to recognize the real cause and not blame your partner. Financial counseling can help and is available at places like Anglicare and Relationships Austr...alia. Just yelling at everyone won’t. Other steps that may help : Get out all those left over school supplies from last year. No. The children don’t need to use them to play over the holidays. Send them outside to play while you rescue enough to meet the school list for the year. A pencil is still usable down to about 5cms long. Last years pencil case is still usable. Even if it’s not this years fav character. Ask at school what they actually really need for the first day and what can wait for next term. Start a box in your cupboard. Buy a pencil - a glue stick - an exercise book when they are on sale or when you do your grocery shop every week - and put them away in your New Year Box. It won’t help for this year but next year you will have the whole school list already. Buy a toy that can attach to last years school back pack to make it new. Remember the shops advertise new new new to meet their needs not yours or your families. Make it fun by rewarding the children (with a hug or a special half hour of your one on one time - not a costly toy or takeaway meal) when they find something they can reuse from last year. We are back and you can call for an appointment. Getting a practical solution early can help before your separation becomes a world war. Call us on 61 61 1685.

01.01.2022 It passed both houses! Finally superannuation splitting / sharing will be available to everyone in WA. De facto couples have been excluded from this for far too long. The bill has passed in both houses now we just wait forever proclamation. What a great outcome. https://www.aph.gov.au//Bills/Bills_Search_Results/Result