Debra Effeney
Senior Associate
Practice Area
Experience
Debra is an Accredited Family Law Specialist who has extensive family law experience working in suburban, regional and national law firms. Debra is also trained in collaborative law.
Debra has a wide range of experience in all areas of family law disputes including the following:
- Divorce proceedings;
- Children’s matters including recovery and relocation orders and placing children on the Airport Watch List;
- Property settlements, including Binding Financial Agreements before, during and after marriage;
- Maintenance, including spousal maintenance;
- Domestic violence matters;
- Child Support Agreements;
- De facto property settlements;
- Surrogacy Agreements.
Recent Matters
- Obtained an urgent Order in less than 24 hours preventing children being taken from Australia to reside permanently overseas including obtaining an Order that the children be placed on the Airport Watch List.
- Assisted parties to a surrogacy arrangement obtain one of Queensland's first parentage orders transferring parentage from the birth parents to the intended parents and providing the necessary independent legal advice pursuant to the Surrogacy Act (QLD) 2010.
- Acted for international clients in complex property settlements involving assets in Australia and overseas.
- Acted for third parties in property settlement proceedings.
Professional Background and Education
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Laws, James Cook University
- Queensland Law Society Accredited Specialist - Family Law
Admissions
- Queensland Supreme Court
- High Court of Australia
Professional Memberships
- Queensland Law Society
- Family Law Practitioners' Association of Queensland
- Law Council of Australia - Family Law Section
- Queensland Collaborative Law
- Child Protection Association of Queensland
- Volunteer - Women's Legal Service Queensland
