Separation And Divorce

A breakdown of a marriage is considered to be one of the most stressful situations encountered in life and in Australia a ‘no fault divorce’ system is in place. This means that the Court does not consider the reasons as to why the marriage broke down, they only consider that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.

Divorce Order

To have a divorce order granted in Australia, you must be separated from your spouse for a minimum of 12 months and if you have been married for less than two tears, you will usually need to attend counselling.

A Divorce Order is a formal order granted by the court that legally ends the marital relationship between two people. A Divorce Order must be applied for an Application for Divorce with the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. In this Divorce Application, you must prove certain things to the Court such as that you were legally married, you have been separated with your estranged spouse for 12 months and either you or your estranged spouse are an Australian Citizen. If you have any questions relating to a divorce, or a family law matter in general, its best you phone our office today and speak to an experienced family lawyer. Here at Carter O’Neill Legal we try and make the application as simple and timely as possible as we understand that this is a stressful time in your life. Please phone us on (02) 4308 8892 today.

De Facto Relationship

The introduction of the 2008 Legislation has provided a consistent and uniformity approach in relation to de facto couples. A relationship is deemed to be de facto in nature if the persons are: not related by blood or legally married and the circumstance of the relationship entails the couple genuinely living together on a domestic basis. The courts will examine circumstances of the relationship to ascertain whether a de facto relationship does exist. These circumstances include (but are not limited to) the nature and extend of the shared residence, the care and support of any children and the duration of the relationship and the degree of mutual commitment to a share life. These principles that apply to de facto relationship, also apply to same sex relationship (maybe do a link here to same sex relationship so it will redirect). It is important to note that you only have two years after the date of separation of a de facto relationship to start property proceedings (same here – redirection) in the Federal Court of Australia. Any application brought outside of time will have to be granted leave from the Court which may be refused. It is important you understand your rights and where you stand in your de facto relationship. Here at Carter O’Neill Legal we try and make the application as simple and timely as possible as we understand that this is a stressful time in your life. Please phone us on (02) 4308 8892 and speak to one of our family lawyers today.

Same Sex Relationships

Following the postal vote in 2017, the Marriage Act was amended to allow the union of two people of the same gender to be legally recognised. This amendment means that same sex couples have the same protection for both parenting and property matters as those afforded to heterosexual couples. Please read here relating to divorce proceedings, parenting, and property matters (redirect link).

Parenting Matters

If a child to the relationship is conceived by IVF using a sperm donor and the partner of the pregnant woman’s partner consents to the procedure than the marital partner is considered a legal parent pursuant to the Family Law Act. However if the parties are not married, the non-biological parent is required to prove that they were in a de facto relationship at the time of the IVF procedure and they will also need to prove that they consented to the procedure to be recognised at law as a parent. Unfortunately, the presumption of parentage only applies to IVF pregnancies and does not apply to children conceived through surrogacy arrangements. Surrogacy is governed under state legislation. If you have any questions relating to your family law matter or are unsure where you stand in the eyes of the law, contact Carter O’Neill Legal today and we will make your situation as stressless as we can by providing advice to you in plain language.