This past week my world has been turned upside down. Today we laid to rest my youngest brother. While we are trying to make sense of things, today I shared these words at a small celebration of my little brother’s short life in a letter to his 3 children- my nephews and niece. I share them […]
It is almost Christmas! Such a beautiful time of year (well so the songs say!) and I must say I love Christmas- it is a time when I am with my closest family and friends, holidaying, celebrating and just being grateful for all that the year has thrown our way. But I know that for […]
Parenting is one of life’s joys, but at the same time is one of life’s challenges. Parenting during separation and divorce is perhaps more of a ‘challenge’ than a ‘joy’. The breakdown of any significant relationship is one of the most difficult grief events many of us will ever experience. It is therefore no wonder […]
This past week I have been enjoying a long awaited family holiday. Oliver, London and I have made our way (along with Ollie’s mum) to Queenstown, New Zealand. It has been beautiful. We have been skiing the slopes, sitting in front of log fires, enjoying lovely dinners out and all that fun holiday stuff. But […]
I have a belief that life is a journey. That each of us is living in our own ‘choose your own adventure novel’ and that the decisions we make lead us on new adventures. Just like a novel, we never really know what the ending will be and so it is the path, or the […]
This week I have an admission to make. I have an addiction. Every Wednesday and Thursday evening for the past 10 or so weeks I have rushed home and taken up a seat to avidly watch 30 or so girls have their hearts unceremoniously broken on the national TV show, ‘The Bachelor’. And it turns out […]
This week I am privileged to share a guest post from family lawyer and friend, Hayley Atkinson, on Surrogacy. It is a topic gaining so much attention here in Australia and perhaps as a result the positive side of this miracle gift is being overlooked. _______________________________________ The last few weeks there has been so much […]
Last week I was thrilled to be asked to be a regular monthly writer for the magazine ‘I AM WOMAN'(www.iamwomanmagazine.com.au) My first article was published last week and I thought I would share it with you- From a young age we learn to believe in love and all the beauty it can bring. As young […]
Divorce is said to be one of the most significant grief events many of us will ever suffer. Is it any wonder then, that during divorce, good people suddenly seem to be mad? As a Divorce Lawyer I have seen it all. People who in any other situation are entirely ‘normal’ all of a sudden […]
After a week of fine tuning my book and finally pressing send on the email to my editor “Splitsville- How to separate, stay out of Court and stay friends”- is almost here so I decided I might share with you an extract- _____________________________________________________________________________ From Chapter 2 – WHERE DO I BEGIN? – THE BIG DECISION TO SEPARATE […]
What would you do with $100,000? Did you know that the financial outlay for your family to begin and finish a case before the Family Courts here in Australia, will be more than $100,000. This is almost a conservative estimate- I have no doubt that many families have spent many more thousands over the years […]
This week I had cause to remind myself just how grateful I am for the life I have been lucky enough to enjoy. The challenges that people face and overcome never cease to amaze me. After a long discussion this week I was reminded that you can find positives in even the most challenging of […]
Almost all of us have had our hearts broken at some stage in our lives. For me, it first happened when I was 16 years of age. I still remember those feelings so well- waking up each morning, those first few seconds when my world seemed okay, before that moment where everything seemed to stop. […]
Clarissa Rayward, The Happy Family Lawyer, is a Specialist Family Lawyer based in Brisbane, Australia. Clarissa is the Director of boutique Family Law Firm, Brisbane Family Law Centre (BFLC). Brisbane Family Law Centre is a multidisciplinary legal practice offering a holistic service to clients experiencing divorce and separation. An onsite team of specialist family lawyers are […]
Research continues to show that children who experience ongoing conflict between their parents after divorce are at significant risk of poorer adult outcomes in later life. These children have low self esteem, are withdrawn, cannot manage emotion, demonstrate their distress through poor behaviour and have difficulty maintaining friendships and relationships throughout life. We know that […]
When life gives you lemons make margaritas. The last few weeks I have been finishing off the manuscript for my book and in the process I have been seeking input from friends, clients and colleagues, who all have had some experience with divorce. It has been so interesting reading what everyone has to say. There […]
I had the privilege on Friday evening of attending a Professional Dinner where my colleagues were recognised for their efforts as legal practitioners. These sorts of dinners are always an interesting affair. Of course you are seated at a table of strangers and before you know it you find yourself in that age old conversation […]
Amongst other things I am a Family Lawyer- a divorce lawyer who day in day out works with families to try and assist them through the legal issues that surround a marriage breakdown. Often this will involve advising on and negotiating the future living arrangements for young children- children that I will rarely meet and […]
Happiness is…. Well I think it is something different for each of us. For me it is the simplest of things. Taking my daughter each morning to the coffee shop where she clambers on a stool to climb up on a table and grab a sachet of sugar. She will say ‘just one’ as she […]
