Divorce

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What you should know

Are you still legally married and have been separated for more than 12 months? You may wish to apply for a divorce.

It is important to note that you will need to apply for a divorce if you intend to remarry. Our divorce lawyers adelaide can help.

How you can apply for a divorce

You can apply for a divorce in Australia if either you or your spouse:

  • regard Australia as your home and intend to live in Australia indefinitely, or
  • are an Australian citizen by birth, descent or by grant of Australian citizenship, or
  • ordinarily live in Australia and have done so for 12 months immediately before filing for divorce.

You need to satisfy the Court that you and your spouse have lived separately and apart for at least 12 months, and there is no reasonable likelihood of resuming married life.  Speak to one of our divorce lawyers if you are unsure whether you qualify for a divorce.

property settlement lawyers adelaide
tenants in common disputes

No one needs to be at fault

Whether one or other spouse considers the other to be at fault for the breakdown of the marriage (for example, because of infidelity, or family violence) is not relevant as divorce under the Family Law Act is treated as a “no fault” jurisdiction.

In certain circumstances, a divorce can be granted where parties are separated but living under the same roof or where there has been a brief period of reconciliation (up to 3 months) during the period of separation.

Beware: time limits apply

While it is possible to apply for a divorce at any time after a period of separation of 12 months, we recommend that you only do so after you have formally resolved all financial issues with your spouse.

If you obtain a divorce order before settling with your spouse, you have only 12 months within which to bring Court proceedings to deal with issue, otherwise you are “out of time” and may well need to apply to the Court for an extension of time.

tenants in common disputes

Effect of divorce

It is also important to note that separation from your spouse does not affect your will particularly in terms of any gifts in your will in favour of your spouse, whereas divorce automatically revokes any gift in your will to your former spouse, but does not revoke the rest of your will.

Do it yourself or have one of our divorce lawyers do it for you?

While divorce applications can be done on line without legal assistance, some applications can be more complicated than others and critical issues may arise without you really knowing and understand what to do or what the impact may be on your rights and obligations.

You may therefore wish to have the benefit and “peace of mind” of having one a divorce lawyer on our team take care of this process on your behalf.

It is always recommended that you get an expert divorce lawyer to assist with your divorce and at Di Rosa, we make it easy by preparing and filing your divorce application and managing the whole process to ensure it is a smooth and straightforward one so that you can quickly get on with your life.

adelaide conveyancer
adelaide conveyancer

Why choose one of our divorce lawyers

  • We’ve probably handled your property settlement or children’s issues, so we know what do and can do it quickly
  • We will save you the pain and inconvenience of having to attend Court to get your divorce
  • We know instantly whether you qualify for a divorce (taking out the guess work on your part)
  • We know Court rules and any applicable exemptions
property settlement lawyers adelaide

What you should know

Are you still legally married and have been separated for more than 12 months? You may wish to apply for a divorce.

It is important to note that you will need to apply for a divorce if you intend to remarry. Our divorce lawyers can help.

property settlement lawyers adelaide

How you can apply for a divorce

You can apply for a divorce in Australia if either you or your spouse:

  • regard Australia as your home and intend to live in Australia indefinitely, or
  • are an Australian citizen by birth, descent or by grant of Australian citizenship, or
  • ordinarily live in Australia and have done so for 12 months immediately before filing for divorce.

You need to satisfy the Court that you and your spouse have lived separately and apart for at least 12 months, and there is no reasonable likelihood of resuming married life.  Speak to one of our divorce lawyers if you are unsure whether you qualify for a divorce.

tenants in common disputes

No one needs to be at fault

Whether one or other spouse considers the other to be at fault for the breakdown of the marriage (for example, because of infidelity, or family violence) is not relevant as divorce under the Family Law Act is treated as a “no fault” jurisdiction.

In certain circumstances, a divorce can be granted where parties are separated but living under the same roof or where there has been a brief period of reconciliation (up to 3 months) during the period of separation.

Beware: time limits apply

While it is possible to apply for a divorce at any time after a period of separation of 12 months, we recommend that you only do so after you have formally resolved all financial issues with your spouse.

If you obtain a divorce order before settling with your spouse, you have only 12 months within which to bring Court proceedings to deal with issue, otherwise you are “out of time” and may well need to apply to the Court for an extension of time.

tenants in common disputes

Effect of divorce

It is also important to note that separation from your spouse does not affect your will particularly in terms of any gifts in your will in favour of your spouse, whereas divorce automatically revokes any gift in your will to your former spouse, but does not revoke the rest of your will.

adelaide conveyancer

Do it yourself or have one of our divorce lawyers do it for you?

While divorce applications can be done on line without legal assistance, some applications can be more complicated than others and critical issues may arise without you really knowing and understand what to do or what the impact may be on your rights and obligations.

You may therefore wish to have the benefit and “peace of mind” of having one a divorce lawyer on our team take care of this process on your behalf.

It is always recommended that you get an expert divorce lawyer to assist with your divorce and at Di Rosa, we make it easy by preparing and filing your divorce application and managing the whole process to ensure it is a smooth and straightforward one so that you can quickly get on with your life.

adelaide conveyancer

Why choose one of our divorce lawyers

  • We’ve probably handled your property settlement or children’s issues, so we know what do and can do it quickly
  • We will save you the pain and inconvenience of having to attend Court to get your divorce
  • We know instantly whether you qualify for a divorce (taking out the guess work on your part)
  • We know Court rules and any applicable exemptions

How you can help us to help you

If you need our advice with respect to divorce:

1

You can give us a call us on (08) 8276 7955 to book an appointment

2

You can also email us via our Contact page

3

Download our questionnaire here and send it to us

4

Book a time to see us via our client portal here

The first telephone and/or online consultation (up to 20 minutes) is always free and carries no obligation.

By giving us as much information as you can at the outset this will help us provide legal solutions to your problems as quickly and cost-effectively as possible – so you can get on with your life.

Let us handle your divorce so you can get on with life