What do I need to bring to my appointment?

It is helpful if you can bring to your appointment (or send through prior) copies of any important documents such as court documents or orders, or correspondence that you have received from the other side. Documents evidencing your current financial position are also helpful for example, your most recent mortgage statement, yours and your partner’s superannuation statement, bank balances and credit card statements.

When can I do a property settlement?

A property settlement can be commenced as soon as you separate. It is important to remember that there are limitation dates for when you have to start a property settlement which are 12 months from the date of a divorce finalising for married couple or 2 years from separation for de facto couples.

Do I need court orders?

For parenting matters, no. While you can get a parenting order, some parents are comfortable sticking to a completely informal agreement, and others are happy with Parenting Plans. For property settlement, agreements should almost always be documented by a court order or Binding Financial Agreement.

What are the options for resolving the dispute without going to Court?

The term “Alternative Dispute Resolution” or ADR is often used to refer to ways that you can resolve your family law dispute without going to a Court hearing. We offer a number of alternate dispute resolutions options such as legally assisted negotiation, mediation, collaborative law, neutral evaluation and arbitration. Any of these options can save you time and money and will certainty result in less stress and conflict than proceeding to Court.

Legally assisted negotiation is where a family lawyer assists you working through your dispute and negotiating with the other party (directly or via their lawyer if they have one) to resolve the dispute.

Mediation is a process involves appointing an independent third party (Mediator) to facilitate a formal negotiation between yourself and your former partner to resolve your parenting and/or property dispute. The Mediator does not provide legal advice and their role is to independently, and impartially, encourage and assist the parties work through their needs and goals and find a mutually acceptable solution.

In Collaborative law, both parties agree to engage collaboratively trained lawyers and agree not to go to court, to honestly exchange information and work together to reach an agreement by negotiation that takes into account the parties’ circumstances and the overall family needs.

Neutral evaluation an independent expert family lawyer (Evaluator) will assess the case based on the agreed information provided by the parties and provide a non-binding decision. It is then up to both parties whether they are prepared to accept that decision and resolve the matter or whether they wish to proceed to Court. In most cases the evaluators decision is likely to be very similar to an outcome decided by the Court.

Arbitration is another option in family law property disputes where parties have tried to reach agreement, are unable to agree but don’t want to go through the cost, inconvenience and expense of a court hearing. In this process the parties agree to appoint a qualified arbitrator to decide how their property is to be split or to decide one aspect of their dispute. Once the parties have agreed to appoint the arbitrator and how the process will take place (including what documents are to be provided to the mediator) they will be bound by the decision of the arbitrator in a similar way to a court decision.

When can I apply for a divorce? What is the process?

Either party to a marriage can apply for a divorce once they have been separated for 12 months. This 12 months separation is the only evidence that the Court needs to say that the marriage has irreconcilably broken down.

If the parties have been married for less than 2 years at the time of making the Application for Divorce, it is necessary for them to first attend compulsory counseling before filing for divorce, to show that they have considered reconciliation. If you have been separated under the same roof during the 12 months of separation you will also need affidavits setting out the circumstances of the continued cohabitation.

An Application for Divorce must be filed with either the Family Court of Australia or the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. This Application may be made jointly or by just one of the parties. If the Application is made by just one party, a copy of the Application must be served on the other party and the party making the Application must be able to provide the Court with evidence of this.

When the document is filed with the Court, a hearing date is allocated. This is generally 6 – 8 weeks after the date the document is filed, although can be as delayed as 6 months. If there are no children under 18, neither party needs to attend the hearing.

If there are children under 18, the party making the Application needs to attend the hearing to satisfy the Court that there are appropriate arrangements in place for the welfare of the children. Once the Court is satisfied that there has been a 12 month separation and there are appropriate arrangements for the children (if applicable), it will order a divorce. This divorce will become final one month and one day from the hearing date, at which time a Certificate of Divorce will issue.

It is possible to object to an Application for Divorce by filing and serving a Response to Divorce Application. The most common ground for objecting to a divorce is that you dispute the date of separation.