Divorce & Separation Lawyers

Know your rights when it comes to divorce and separation, get in contact with Galloway Family Law for a free 20-minute consultation with a family lawyer. Click here to contact us.

In Australia, there is no legal requirement to register your separation, or to take any legal steps on the breakdown of your relationship.

If you have children and your parenting arrangements are working, you can continue with these informal arrangements without the need to go to court or to obtain any court orders about your arrangements.

If you have no property, or you have property but you both agree that you do not need to make any adjustment of your property interests between you, you do not need to take any legal steps to resolve family property matters.  

However, if you do need to enter family property orders to transfer property or superannuation between you, or you wish to seek an adjustment of property against the other party, you can take steps to settle these matters in legal terms before you are divorced.  

If a divorce order has been made, you have 12 months from the final divorce order in which to file an application for property or financial orders.  After that time, you would need to seek the court’s leave to proceed.

If you are married, and you wish to obtain a divorce, you may apply to the Federal Magistrates Court. You need to satisfy the court that the marriage has broken down irretrievably, which is proved by 12 months of separation.