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Divorce

While the law about marriage is in the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth), the law about divorce is in the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

What is divorce?

Divorce is the legal end of a marriage. It is generally taken to revoke any gift or power conferred under a will made by either party to the marriage, see Changing a will.

A divorce does not resolve other issues that arise upon separation, such as the division of property, the provision of maintenance or the parenting arrangements for children.

These issues are to be resolved separately and preferably before applying for divorce.

You only have 12 months after a divorce order takes effect to resolve any issues regarding the division of property or the payment of maintenance or make a separate application to the Court for such orders to be made. You can apply for an extension of time within which to make the application, but the Court may or may not grant you the extension [see Family Law Act 1975 s 43(3)].

Divorce applications are heard in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and application forms and information can be obtained from their website.

Divorce  :  Last Revised: Fri Aug 27th 2021
The content of the Law Handbook is made available as a public service for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice. See Disclaimer for details. For free and confidential legal advice in South Australia call 1300 366 424.