Cheryl is an accredited family law specialist and a senior associate in Lander & Rogers' Melbourne office.
Cheryl commenced her legal career in a multi-disciplinary firm, where she worked in family law, property law, wills and estates and commercial law. Cheryl has now been practising exclusively in family and relationship law since 2017 and leverages her earlier experience by providing pragmatic and holistic advice to her clients.
Cheryl is known for her technical family law expertise. She believes in approaching each issue with a creative lens, and, together with her strong business acumen, she achieves innovative, practical and commercial outcomes tailored to her individual clients.
As a member of our international family law team, Cheryl has extensive experience representing clients living overseas, as well as advising domestic clients on international family law issues. She has a trusted network of international family lawyers with whom she regularly collaborates for the mutual benefit of her clients. Cheryl is a member of the Asian Australian Lawyers Association and the Asian Leadership Project.
Cheryl is of Malaysian Chinese and Singaporean Chinese background and is proficient in Hokkien. She is uniquely placed to understand the cultural and linguistic sensitivities that can be experienced by migrant families and is committed to providing advice that is compassionate but also commercial.
Cheryl currently volunteers her time at Redfern Legal Centre (NSW) assisting with family law matters.
Experience
Cheryl's areas of experience include:
- asset protection through binding financial agreements
- divorce proceedings
- spousal maintenance
- child support (including binding child support agreements and child support departure orders)
- parenting arrangements for the care of children
- representing third party / family trust interests in family law proceedings
- international matters including:
- matters involving division of asset portfolios and liabilities in overseas countries including Singapore, China, India, Uruguay and the United States of America
- matters with concurrent litigation overseas, including in Singapore and the United States of America.
Career highlights
Cheryl's career highlights include:
- representing high net worth clients with complex, high-value financial and property settlements through negotiation, mediation and litigation
- disputes involving third-party interests, loan agreements, corporate structures, trust structures and businesses
- successfully obtaining contravention orders from the Family Court of Australia on an undefended basis
- obtaining sole parental responsibility orders on an undefended basis for the protection of a child at risk.
Client feedback
"Thank you for your services to prepare a recent Binding Financial Agreement. I have learnt a lot through the process and appreciate the explanations you provided of key terms & considerations. I felt I was kept well-informed, and that my interests have been looked after, which gave me full confidence when signing the final agreement."
Thanks again for your help with the BFA and I’ll definitely be happy to refer you to friends. I did appreciate your transparency and patience in explaining things!"
"Cheryl Chua is the ideal lawyer to have advising anyone who is experiencing a relationship breakdown. A consummate professional, Cheryl listens very carefully to a client, so that her advice is tailored to their specific circumstances. The legal issues are comprehensively, accurately and accessibly explained in a timely way. The merits of various options are set out so that clients can make informed choices when they are navigating the legal complexities. In my situation, we were looking for an amicable settlement and Cheryl fully facilitated that, so that good relations between family members were very much preserved. I would add that Cheryl is friendly, understanding and a pleasure to deal with. I very strongly recommend her."
"Many thanks Cheryl for all your excellent help through this entire process. Talking to other people, I realise that this has been a lot less fraught than it might have been."
"I just want to thank you for all your help and support. It has been such a long journey and could not have done this without you being the backbone and a tower of strength. Finally we have a successful outcome. Forever grateful."
FAQs
Will my matter proceed to a final hearing?
Cheryl resolves most of her matters through written negotiations or at private mediation, avoiding the need to resort to litigation, or a final hearing. Cheryl will guide you in making informed and commercial decisions to reach an outcome that works for you and your circumstances. She is experienced in formalising settlement agreements without stepping foot inside a court room.
What is "property" in Australian family law?
In Australian family law, property includes all assets, liabilities, superannuation and financial resources that the parties have an interest in under joint names, their respective sole names and, in certain cases, via corporate entities and trusts, whether those interests exist in Australia and/or overseas. In this article, Cheryl addresses the definition of property in further detail.
Can my ex-spouse claim money after divorce?
When a marriage comes to an end, a divorce is required to legally terminate the arrangement. However, a divorce does not automatically sever financial ties, which means both parties could be exposed to financial and property-related claims later on, particularly where there is no legally enforceable financial/property settlement in place. In this article, Cheryl explores the current rules, risks and tips to consider to protect your wealth and assets after separation.
View more commonly-asked questions about the legal aspects of family and relationship law in Australia here.