Hassle-free Divorce

To be eligible for divorce in Australia:

1. You must have been born in Australia or become an Australian citizen or you must have been present in Australia for the last 12 months and intend on continuing to live in Australia.
2. Your marriage must have broken down irretrievably; 
3. You and your spouse must have lived apart for at least 12 months and 1 day (you can live separated, and under the same roof, however, further information is required);
4. If you were married for less than 2 years, you might have to obtain a counselling certificate.

If you meet the above requirements, then you are likely to be eligible for a divorce in Australia.

If you and your spouse have children together, then the court may require further information before granting a Divorce Order, so the court understands the arrangements in place for the care, welfare, and development of the children. To help your kids through this difficult time, check out these 10 tips. 

A divorce can be completed as either a sole divorce application where your spouse has not agreed to the divorce or a joint divorce application where your spouse has decided to complete a joint divorce with you. Once the divorce application is completed, it is filed with the Federal Circuit Court of Australia or Family Court of Australia. If you are doing a sole divorce application, you will have to serve the divorce application by hand on your spouse.  Special rules require that you not serve the divorce application on your spouse yourself.

Some additional documents are required in your divorce application. Our divorce lawyers can tell you what documents you need based on your circumstances. Sometimes, if there are unusual circumstances around your divorce, you may need:

• To apply for substituted service where you don’t know your spouse’s home address, but you can contact them or someone they know;
• To apply to dispense with service where you don’t know where your spouse is;
• Swear a statement to the court, through a document called an affidavit explaining your particular circumstances such as:
  • if you are separated and living under the same roof; or
  • have changed your name from your married name.

Usually, once your divorce application is filed with the court, a divorce hearing will occur between 6 to 12 weeks. Our processing time to prepare your divorce in most cases is 1 to 3 weeks. If your divorce is not standard, then processing times may take longer.

The assets in a divorce are divided by considering a range of factors including, the length of the relationship, both the financial and non-financial contributions made by each party and any future needs that each party has. If after considering the above factors, it is just and equitable for a division of the property, then a property division can occur, otherwise, the law may seek an adjustment in a party’s favour if they have made superior contributions or have higher future needs.