Divorce Australia

No. You can file a sole application for divorce and serve the application on your ex after filing it. This is done without their consent, but they are given notice so that they can attend the divorce hearing or obtain legal advice if they would like it. 

If you do not have it, you may need to ask your spouse for a copy or alternatively apply to the relevant issuing body for a copy to be re-issued. This usually attracts a fee. Each State and Territory in Australia has a different registry where you can apply for a copy of your marriage certificate.

The cost will vary depending on your circumstances and the lawyer you engage. At MacDonald Law we offer a fixed fee price for divorce applications where you know where the other party can be served, or no service is needed. The fixed fee price is $770 inc GST.

Additionally, you will have to pay the divorce filing fee issued by the Court, any fee for a duplicate marriage certificate to issue if required, and the process server fee. All up, we estimate this cost to be around $2,000 including professional fees.

Divorce applications don't include parenting arrangements, property settlement matters (the division of property). These matters involve family lawyers and their costs are outside of those quoted here (which is only for the divorce portion).

Yes, so long as you meet the other requirements and provided that you are an Australian citizen by birth, descent or grant, or are lawfully present in Australia (having done so for 12 months) and intend to continue living in Australia.

If your marriage certificate is in another language other than English, you will need to pay for a formal english translation service. They will need to also sign an affidavit explaining that they are authorised as a legal translator and that they have undertaken the translation.

If you have been married for less than two years at the time of your application, you need to attend upon a counsellor and undertake counselling. Your counsellor provides a certificate showing that you attempted counselling or you tried by the other party refused to attend. This certificate is provided to the Court at the time of filing your Application for Divorce.

This really depends on the Courts availability to hear the divorce application. Typically, we estimate around 3 - 4 months for a hearing date. This varies widely depending on the time of the year. 

This does not necessarily mean that you have to have Orders for parenting arrangements in place. Although it is a good idea. Proper arrangements mean providing details to the Court about the current parenting arrangements and explaining why those arrangements are appropriate. This includes in circumstances where children are not spending any time with the other parent. If you want more advice regarding parenting arrangements, you should speak with a lawyer or read more here.

Parenting arrangements are technically not dealt with in a divorce application, other than to ensure appropriate arrangements are in place. We recommend you speak with a lawyer and get some specific legal help. For some more information, head here. 

This is a complicated question, which cannot be answered in this FAQ - we wish! The easiest way to answer this question would be to sit down with one of our experienced solicitors. This allows us to understand your circumstances and provide bespoke advice unique to your circumstances. If you want some general information, you can read more: here. 

Another complicated question. The easiest way to answer this question would be to sit down with one of our experienced solicitors. This allows us to understand your circumstances and provide bespoke advice unique to your circumstances. If you want some general information, you can read more: here.

If you don't sign the marriage application, then it cannot proceed as a joint application. The other spouse can still proceed to apply for a divorce, but this is done as a sole application. Once filed, your ex will need to provide you with a copy of the sealed application and give you formal notice of the Court date.

This means that you do not need to prove that someone is at fault for the marriage breakdown. You do not need to hire a private detective or other professional to investigate. You simply need to prove a couple of things such as separation and that your relationship has ended and there is no reasonable likelihood of you staying married.

The process is the same whether you are in Queensland or New South Wales. Either way, we would be happy to help.

You can proceed to file for a sole application for divorce without their signature or consent. You do not have to wait for them to approve your application. You do, however, have to serve them with a copy of your sole application once it is filed.

Under Australian law, you can apply for a divorce after your marriage has ended and you have been separated for more than 12 months.

At the time of applying for a divorce, you need to swear or affirm that you do not believe there is any reasonable likelihood of your marriage resuming and that your marriage has ended.

In most cases, this means that each person will move on and often times marry others. However, there have been circumstances where people resume their relationship and wish to re-marry.

In that event, there is nothing to stop you from getting married again to the same person. 

Yes. The process is fairly straightforward and the Federal Circuit and Family Court have a Divorce Application Kit which sets out the steps. We recommend you obtain some legal advice about your circumstances as separation is difficult and there can often be other things to think about: children, property, your will/estate.

If you read the Divorce Application Kit and it is confusing or overwhelming, we recommend you engage an experienced lawyer to assist you with the process. We take over the day to day management so that you don't have to deal with the stress.

In Australia, no you do not have to provide bank statements for a divorce application. However, if you need to undertake a family law property division, then you will likely have to as part of your disclosure obligations. You can read more here. 

Whilst a time limit applies before you can apply to the Court to get divorced (12 months from separation), there is no time limit for when you have to apply by. We have seen people apply for a divorce after separation more than 25 years ago. Similarly, we often help people with their divorce after only 12 months of separation.

It is important to note that we do not recommend waiting a significant period after separation to finalise arrangements for your children, or your property division. Delaying things in these areas can make it more complicated.

The formal court order will issue 1 month and 1 day after the divorce hearing. Your divorce is not in effect until your Divorce Order issues. You cannot remarry until that court order has issued.

If you are planning a wedding, and need to get divorced first, it is imperative that you act quickly. There is no guarantee that the Court will list your divorce hearing with enough time for a pre-planned wedding date.