Family Lawyers Australia

Divorce and Separation

Divorce is the Court's declaration that a marriage no longer exists.

There is no requirement of fault to obtain a divorce. A divorce will be granted once irretrievable breakdown of marriage is demonstrated by a period of 12 months separation. Parties may be separated for 12 months despite the fact they continue to live under the one roof. Additional evidence is required to corroborate a separation under the one roof.

You can finalise all financial and parenting arrangements during separation prior to applying for a divorce by either Minutes of Consent, a Binding Financial Agreement or by issuing proceedings in the Family Court or the Federal Magistrates Court.

Once divorced you must commence Court proceedings in relation to property within 12 months of the divorce being finalised. The fact is that after 12 months separation you can apply for a divorce and the good news is that you don't need a lawyer you can do it yourself. The forms are not difficult and can be downloaded from the Family Court website at www.familycourt.gov.au.

If your children are over 18 years you will not have to attend Court and it will be dealt with in your absence. If your children are under 18 years the Court will want to know what the arrangements are for the children and that things have not changed at the date of the hearing. If the court is satisfied that you have met all the criteria for a divorce the divorce will be granted on the basis that provided there is no appeal of the decision that it will become absolute in a month at which time you will be able to remarry. If that is the case you might like to consider a BFA to at least quarantine the assets that you have acquired to date. There is a real feeling of comfort to know that what you have acquired over a lifetime can be protected in the event of a future separation.