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Same Sex Relationships
Property Settlements
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Adoption & Surrogacy
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Counselling
Counselling and family therapy can be very useful in assisting people to discuss their separation and to work out care arrangements for their children and how best to finalise financial matters in a respectful and safe environment. We encourage our clients to engage in counselling and family therapy, where appropriate. Counselling and family therapy can assist you to find a way to work cooperatively and respectfully with your former partner for the benefit of you, your partner and your children.
If an application has been made in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia in relation to children, counselling may be directed by the Court. Depending on the age of the children and the issues in dispute, counselling may involve the children.
There are government funded and private counselling services available within the community. We can assist you to find an appropriate counsellor or service which suits your individual needs.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Alternate dispute resolution processes such as negotiation, mediation and collaborative law may assist you to resolve property or parenting matters without the need to become involved in Court proceedings.
Divorce Procedures
Either party to a marriage can apply for a divorce after they have been separated for 12 months. The parties must have lived separately and apart during that time although they can have lived in the same house.
An Application for Divorce is separate from property settlement applications and parenting proceedings.
Applications for Divorce are filed online in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
Common questions about Divorce & Separation
How to apply for a Divorce?
• You can file an Application for Divorce on your own or you can make the application jointly with your spouse.
• You must have been separated for at least 12 months before you can file an Application for Divorce.
• You file the Application for Divorce online in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.
• An Application for Divorce Kit is available on the Federal Circuit Court website here.
Separation under one roof: Can I still apply for a divorce even if we have been living in the same home?
• However, you will need to prove to the Court that you were in fact living separately in the same house during this time. This is done by filing an affidavit from both you and your spouse or from you and another person who can give evidence that you lived separately while living in the same home.
Separation under one roof: Can I still apply for a divorce even if we have been living in the same home?
• If you have filed the application on your own, you must then arrange for the application to be personally served on your spouse. You cannot give the application to your spouse yourself. You must arrange for someone else to deliver the application to your spouse.
• If you have children under 18 years of age, unless it is a joint application, the spouse making the application will need to attend Court for the hearing. If it is a joint application, it is dealt with in the absence of the parties on the date notified at the time the application was filed. You will need to check the Court portal to confirm that the Divorce Order has been made.
• The Divorce Order becomes final one month and one day after it is made by the Court.
What if we have children?
Do I need to be divorced to have a property settlement?
• However, once you are divorced (that is once the divorce is final) you must make an application for a property settlement or spousal maintenance within 12 months from the day the divorce became final. There are limited circumstances where the Court will allow an application for property settlement to be made outside this limitation period.
Divorce & separation
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