In all states and territories except Western Australia, practitioners can choose to commence proceedings in either the Family Court or the Federal Circuit Court. In Western Australia, all applications are made to the Family Court of Western Australia (WA).

Before commencing proceedings in which property and financial orders are sought, it is necessary to decide which court to bring those proceedings in.

It should be noted that the Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court have different rules. Therefore court procedures will differ between the two courts. The process in the Family Court of WA more closely mirrors that of the Family Court of Australia and, by and large, most of the Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth) are adopted for use in WA with some minor differences.

To determine the appropriate court, see Which court?.

To see the court procedure, see the Family Court of WA website.

It will invariably be the case that a practitioner preparing for a hearing will require subpoenas to be issued, either to ensure the attendance at court of a witness, to seek the production of documents, or both.

The Family Court, the Federal Circuit Court and Family Court of WA have different rules in respect of the issue of subpoenas and care must be taken to comply with the relevant rules. See Subpoenas.

Expert evidence is often required in proceedings in which property and financial orders are sought. In some circumstances, parties will engage their own experts but more commonly a “single expert” will be appointed by the court to provide a report on the issue requiring determination.

Particular rules apply to the appointment of experts, communication with those experts, the form of reports to be provided by those experts and meeting the costs of those experts. See Experts.