To be eligible for divorce, you must demonstrate an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, a separation for a minimum period of 12 months, and no chance of reconciliation.
You will need a valid marriage certificate and credit card details for the $940 court filing fee (you may be eligible for a reduced filing fee depending on your circumstances). The nature of your marriage will have an impact on how long it will take for the Registrar to make a decision whether to grant you a divorce order (i.e. if it is a joint divorce application, if there are children).
Assuming a divorce order is granted, you will have a 12 months to file an application for any financial orders. If you are living overseas, you can still apply for a divorce in Australia, as long as you meet the relevant criteria.
In order to be eligible to make a divorce application, the following must be satisfied:
All divorce applications are filed online (e-filed) through the Commonwealth Courts Portal by one of our family law solicitors.
After your application has been filed, a Registrar will hear your matter and then decide whether to grant you a divorce order. If it is a joint Application (both spouses sign as joint Applicants) or there are no children under 18 years, this will occur about two months after filing and will happen without any court appearance. If it is an Application of just one spouse and there is a child under 18 years, the Registrar will consider the Application in a short court appearance.
After you have been granted a divorce, there is a time frame that you need to adhere to in relation to bringing spousal maintenance and/or property settlement claims.
From the date the divorce order is granted, you will have 12 months to file an application for financial orders such as a property settlement and/or spousal maintenance.
In Australia our family law system provides for no fault divorces, meaning the Court will not consider the circumstances that contributed to the breakdown of the relationship. As such, there is no need for the party making the application to show “fault” on the part of the other party.
If you or your former partner are living oversea, you can apply for a divorce if you: