Tamara is an experienced family and relationship lawyer who has practised exclusively in family law since May 2010. She has extensive experience in all areas of family law, and attained her accreditation as a Family Law Specialist in October 2015.
Tamara was named a Family Law Rising Star in the peer-reviewed Doyle's Guide (2018) and has been recognised in The Best Lawyers in Australia annual listings for her expertise in family law since 2023.
With a practice spanning all areas of family law, Tamara is known for her acute attention to detail and technical legal expertise. She is often retained to draft complex binding financial agreements, particularly for families seeking to protect intergenerational wealth.
Tamara is also one of a select number of family lawyers in Victoria with specialised knowledge of surrogacy and fertility law. She provides guidance and advice to intended parents, surrogates, donors and fertility clinics, and her service includes providing independent legal advice under the legislation (when required), drafting and reviewing surrogacy and donor agreements and making applications for court orders regarding parentage and parenting arrangements.
While Tamara's client base is extensive, each with different needs and priorities, their feedback is consistent. She is considered a safe pair of hands, who takes time to listen to and understand her clients, and she is respected for her measured but strategic approach to family law.
Experience
Tamara's areas of expertise include:
- matrimonial and de facto property matters involving complex company structure, trusts and tax issues, superannuation splitting, administration and probate issues
- matrimonial and de facto financial agreements
- spousal maintenance entitlements and obligations
- parenting matters including disputed care arrangements, interstate and international relocation, and contravention proceedings
- stepparent adoptions
- fertility law, including IVF and surrogacy
- child support agreements
- child support administrative reviews and departure applications
- adult child maintenance entitlements and obligations
- divorce
- family violence intervention orders.
Career highlights
Tamara's career highlights include:
- drafting financial agreements to protect her clients' wealth, including significant intergenerational wealth and wealth located across multiple overseas jurisdictions
- successfully protecting the entirety of her client's assets against an alleged de facto property claim, and obtaining a costs order in her client's favour
- successfully opposing applications for interstate and international relocations, enabling her clients to continue spending significant time with their children
- providing the requisite legal advice to surrogates and intended parents, enabling them to obtain approval and proceed with their surrogacy arrangements
- successfully obtaining a stepparent adoption order on behalf of her clients in the County Court of Victoria.
Client feedback
What Tamara's clients say:
"I cannot tell you how grateful I will always be to you; without you I could not have kept my child safe. In those horrendously dark days, your counsel made all the difference. I will always remember."
"A big thank you to you for your understanding and help throughout this whole process. Let’s hope I never need to use a divorce lawyer ever again, but if I did, I'd choose you. I’ll be sure to recommend you to everyone, you have been fantastic."
"Thank you for working so hard on my case. I believe that, by engaging you, I received the best possible outcome. You acted professionally, promptly, and with a no-nonsense approach that I greatly appreciate. I'm very relieved this chapter is done and thankful I had you on my team. Thanks again."
"A heartfelt thank you to you, and your team, for making this very difficult time in my life as smooth and straightforward as possible."
FAQs
What is involved in a first client conference and what do I need to bring with me?
Our initial conference will last approximately one hour. We will discuss the background of your relationship and provide you with advice on how the law applies to your circumstances. If your matter involves financial issues, we will provide you with an estimated range of your potential entitlements, based on the instructions you provide in the meeting. If you have children with your former partner, we will discuss how the court determines parenting arrangements and what an appropriate parenting regime may look like for your family.
How long will it take for me to reach a settlement?
This depends if your matter resolves by consent or if court proceedings are issued. If you can negotiate an agreement with your former partner outside of court, it can be documented in orders and filed with the court. This is usually faster than issuing court proceedings. You can also formalise a settlement in a binding financial agreement, which we can draft on your behalf. The court aims to resolve all litigated matters within 12 months of their filing date, however the timeframe can be longer than this, particularly for complex matters.
What will this cost?
Costs in family law matters can be influenced by a number of factors, including the complexity of the issues in dispute and the attitude of the parties to engage in meaningful negotiations to resolve their matter.
When we meet with you, and after hearing about the issues in your case, we will provide you with an estimate of our anticipated legal costs and the options available to you to resolve your matter. We also offer a fixed fee for certain legal services, which may be more appropriate for your particular matter.
When we meet with you, and after hearing about the issues in your case, we will provide you with an estimate of our anticipated legal costs and the options available to you to resolve your matter. We also offer a fixed fee for certain legal services, which may be more appropriate for your particular matter.
View more commonly-asked questions about the legal aspects of family and relationship law in Australia here.