This month Benjamin and Heather fielded questions about family matters from the community. Here are the questions addressed in this podcast:

•My ex-partner and I have shared custody of our two children (ages 8 and 11). I want to take the kids back to the UK to visit with my parents and my ex is refusing to sign the passport applications and says it's a breach of our custody agreement. What can I do?

•I'm separating from my husband and would like to move to another town to have more job opportunities and be closer to family, but my husband doesn't agree with me taking the kids. Do you think it's worth going to court, or is there no chance to get a judge to support my case?

•I've been living with my partner for 15 years. We have no children and we've already agreed how to split our assets (which aren't much). I've just moved out of the rented house we've been sharing and am pretty much just getting on with my life. I read somewhere that it costs $900 to get a divorce. Do I actually have to bother with this since we were never officially married?

•I've been abused verbally by my husband for many years but I don't want to use that argument in the court as I don't want people to know about my private life. Does it make a big difference to mention these incidents in my court case when I file for divorce, to get more time with my kids?

•I've been separated for over 2 years and recently filed for a divorce. To my complete surprise my ex-wife now says she opposes the divorce and has filed a document with the court saying she's against it. What happens now? Does this mean I won't be able to get a divorce?