What you need to know about: PROPERTY AND FINANCIAL SETTLEMENTS

This is part of an information series to provide simple, easy-to-understand guidance for dealing with family law matters when a relationship breaks down. For more information or the help of a specialist family lawyer, please contact Watts McCray Family Law.  

For couples whose relationship has broken down, ‘who gets what’ can be a sensitive issue. Property and financial settlements determine how any assets between two partners – anything from jewellery to cars to real estate and shares – can be divided.

 When are property and financial settlements divided following a divorce?

Once a divorce has been finalised, a couple has a 12 month window in which they can make an application for property and financial settlements. De facto couples that have separated can also make property and financial settlements, but different time limits can apply.

How are these settlements made?

The process through which financial and property settlements are made is different for couples that can agree on how assets are to be divided, and couples who cannot come to an agreement independently.

Couples that see eye to eye on how property and finances are to be divided can formalise those agreements through a binding form of financial agreement or by filing consent orders with the Family Court of Australia.  If two former partners cannot agree on how assets are to be split, they can apply for Court Orders.  Before the matter will go before a judge, both parties must attend ‘pre-action procedures’, where they must try to resolve these issues outside of the court room.

If my case goes to Court, how will a judge decide ‘who gets what’?

There are a number of things that the judge takes into consideration when determining property and financial settlements. These include:

• The pool of assets, liabilities and financial resources available to be divided between the parties, and the value of that pool;
• The contributions (financial, non-financial, homemaking and parenting) made by each party during the course of their cohabitation;
• Factors relevant to the future needs and circumstances of each party; and
• What is a just and equitable outcome based upon a consideration of the factors referred to above.

Will I get more if it was my spouse’s fault the marriage failed?

No. The Family Law Act of 1975 introduced the ‘no-fault’ divorce. This means that the law does not consider whether it was the fault or behaviour of one partner that the marriage broke down when determining how assets (finances and property) are to be divided.

Negotiating how joint assets will be divided following divorce or separation can be hard for both parties. Watts McCray’s family lawyers are sensitive to the difficulty of the situation and can help you handle your property and financial settlements from guidance and support to court representation.

If you’ve been through a divorce or separation, how were your assets divided? What do you wish you knew before beginning the process?