What Is Divorce?

Divorce Requirements

Only married couples can get divorced.

A divorce basically means you’re no longer married to your former partner. It’s a relationship change from married to divorced.

To get divorced you will only require a few simple things:

• You and your ex partner need to be separated for 12 months.
• You need some connection to Australia. This can include at least one of you being an Australian citizen, or at least one of you living permanently in Australia.

What A Divorce Is Not

A divorce does not legally separate the assets of your relationship. There is another process for that, which is normally done through consent orders or a binding financial agreement

A divorce does not deal with how custody and care for your children works. If there are children under 18 years of age, a judge simply wants to be satisfied that the children are appropriately looked after in order to grant a divorce.

During a divorce process, a judge will not be taking steps to change the current arrangements in place for the children.

Important Things To Consider

If you’re still married, you will need to get divorced in the near future.

There are many benefits to getting divorced, such as:

• Your former partner won’t be your legal next of kin (this impacts medical decisions and who has the right to make funeral arrangements when you pass).
• A married spouse will automatically inherit all or part of your estate, unless you get a Will. It’s absolutely important to get a Will if you’re separated from your spouse.
• You superannuation might be paid to your spouse if you pass away without divorcing.

Remember when you get divorced, that will trigger a deadline of one year (from the date of divorce not separation) to reach a binding agreement with your former partner on dividing your assets and debts (normally done through consent orders or a binding financial agreement )

If you can’t reach a binding agreement, then you’ll need to either commence court proceedings  before the deadline expires or consider using our negotiation service  so we can negotiate on your behalf to avoid court proceedings.

You might want to consider waiting until you reach a binding agreement about splitting your assets and debts before you get divorced (but this is just a suggestion and you don’t have to wait).