A ‘divorce‘ is a straightforward administrative change to your legal status: you go from being married, to being not married. Here are five quick divorce facts to help you cut through all the information and understand what you are getting yourself into.
1: Married couples can apply for a divorce 12 months after the date you and your spouse finally separated. However, you can restart the relationship once for a 3 month period without disrupting the 12 month separation.
2: Divorce does not finalise parenting or property matters. These matters require a separate application. Once a divorce takes effect, you have 12 months to issue property proceedings.
3: If there are children under the age of 18 it is important to provide particulars of the arrangements for the children on the divorce application. Should there be children under 18, you or your solicitor will be required to attend the divorce hearing.
4: A Divorce Order will be issued by the court 1 month and 1 day after the date the divorce is granted.
5: There are further requirements if you have been married for less than 2 years or are separated but living under the one roof.
An application for divorce will be filed at the Federal Circuit Court and can be filed as a joint or sole application. If your former partner is agreeable to the divorce, you can mutually sign the divorce documents and share the cost of filing. This also makes the divorce process easier as you will usually not be required to attend court. If your former spouse is not willing to do so, you can still file your divorce as a sole application, however, you will need to ensure that all necessary Service Obligations are met in order for your divorce to be finalized. Our legal team is accustomed to these issues and will be able to finalize your divorce application in an efficient and organized manner.