Your Family Lawyers Through Separation and Divorce

The critical steps for you are:

1. Do not close the door to communication. No matter how hard it is to keep your cool or remain fair minded, your best chance of confining and resolving the dispute is to keep a line of communication open to your partner/spouse.
2. Consult us once you have decided the breakdown or relationship issue cannot be solved by you but before you take an irrevocable step (such as moving out of the matrimonial home).
3. Once you have an understanding of your legal position, you are armed with the knowledge to make sensible decisions about your entitlement or parenting rights and hence to consider what constitutes an acceptable compromise. 
4. This enables you to take the next step and start negotiations. Your negotiations can be direct with your partner/spouse or with the direct involvement of lawyers by your side taking into account your individual needs.
5. If agreement can be reached, this must be embodied in writing, in an appropriate form. In absence of any agreement, litigation becomes your only option. You will need legal advice and support that you can trust as this process can stretch from six months to several years. However, you need to keep your eyes on the big picture – most (not all) litigated matters will resolve prior to hearing.​

When there are disagreements in a relationship or a marriage, couples often lose their ability to communicate with each other. If that should happen you to live in Sydney or Surry Hills and need support from a Sydney lawyer who will both explain and advocate on your behalf in an effective fashion. There are many decisions on the breakdown of a relationship that will need to be made that could affect your income, finances, property and children.

These issues may seem challenging and uncomfortable but our experienced family law solicitors have a history of satisfied clients. We have a solid reputation for helping you understand your legal position, (both your obligations and your entitlements), addressing your short term and long-term needs and negotiating on your behalf with a view to achieving a resolution. In the alternative, if the matter cannot be resolved by agreement or your partner’s expectations are so unrealistic that there is no acceptable compromise, then we will act on your behalf in any disputed financial or children’s matter, in the Family Court or Federal Magistrates Court, as appropriate. 

It may be that our advice is needed at the commencement of a relationship in the form of a pre-nuptial agreement or associated estate or financial planning.

No. Given the high cost of living and the Sydney property market, it is very common for couples to remain in the same house after separating. Under Australian family law, this is called “separation under one roof.”

You do not need to move out to start the clock on your separation. However, to be legally recognised as separated while living together, you must prove that the marital relationship has ended. This usually involves:

• Sleeping in separate bedrooms.
• Separating your bank accounts and finances.
• Ceasing to do household chores (like cooking or laundry) for one another.
• Telling family, friends, and government agencies (like Centrelink or Medicare) that you are separated.

Note: If you apply for a divorce later on, you will need to provide affidavits (sworn statements) from yourself and an independent witness to prove you were genuinely separated under the same roof.

In Australia, you must be legally separated for a continuous period of at least 12 months before you can apply for a divorce through the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The court uses this 12-month period as proof that the marriage has “irretrievably broken down” and there is no reasonable chance of you getting back together. You can officially file your divorce application on the day that marks 12 months and one day from your date of separation.

Yes. The legal pathway depends on whether you were married or in a de facto relationship, not whether the relationship was opposite-sex or same-sex. Married couples may need to apply for divorce, while de facto couples do not. Property, financial and parenting matters may still need to be resolved after separation.

No. It is natural to feel hurt or wronged during a separation, but the legal system does not take those feelings into account. Australia has had a “no-fault” divorce system since the Family Law Act was introduced in 1975.

This means the court will not listen to, or care about, the reasons why the marriage ended—whether it was due to infidelity, arguing, or simply falling out of love. The only ground for divorce is the 12-month separation. The court’s primary focus is simply processing the legal end of the marriage, dividing assets fairly, and ensuring children are protected.

No, and this is a very common misconception. A divorce is simply the legal piece of paper that ends your marriage, allowing you to remarry in the future if you choose to.

Property settlements (dividing your assets and debts) and parenting arrangements (child custody) are handled as entirely separate legal processes.

• You don’t have to wait: You can, and often should, start negotiating your property and parenting arrangements the moment you separate. You do not need to wait for the 12-month divorce mark.
• The ticking clock: Once your divorce is officially granted, a strict 12-month time limit begins. You have exactly one year from your divorce date to finalize your property settlement or apply to the court for financial orders.

Not necessarily. There is no automatic 50/50 rule for dividing assets in NSW or anywhere else in Australia.

When determining a property settlement, the law requires the outcome to be “just and equitable” (fair). To figure out what is fair, the court looks at a holistic picture, including:

• The Asset Pool: The total value of your shared and individual property, superannuation, businesses, and debts.
• Contributions: The financial contributions (who earned what, inheritances) and non-financial contributions (who raised the children, who maintained the home) made by both parties. The court views raising children and earning an income as equally important.
• Future Needs: The future needs of both individuals, taking into account their age, health, earning capacity, and who has primary care of the children moving forward.

Not always. Many parenting and property matters can be resolved through negotiation or Family Dispute Resolution without going to court. Court proceedings may be required where agreement cannot be reached, the matter is urgent, or there are safety concerns.