Divorce Lawyers in BrisbaneSeparated couple

Divorce Lawyers in Brisbane

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Our divorce services can help you and your spouse simply, smoothly and professionally finalise the marital relationship.

How Divorce Lawyers Can Help

Help Avoid Complications

Many people choose to engage a family lawyer in order to avoid any complications with the process (particularly if a party tries to refuse the service).

Represent You As Needed

We help represent parties who are required to attend court at the hearing (for example, those who file a sole application, and have children under the age of 18).

Everything Handled For You

From preparing the application to all the associated documents and processes, our team can handle all of the legal requirements on your behalf.

Can I get a divorce?

In order to file for divorce in Australia, you and your spouse need to have been separated for a period of 12 months or more. Furthermore, either you or your spouse must:

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

An application for divorce can be made jointly with your former spouse, or you can make an application alone.

If you have been married for less than two years in order to apply for divorce you must either:

  • Attend counselling with a family counsellor or nominated counsellor to discuss the possibility of reconciliation with your spouse; OR

If you have not attended counselling, seek permission of the Court to apply for divorce, which will include filing and affidavit with your divorce application. We can assist you with what your affidavit should address.

Joshua Williams

When Parties Do/Don’t Agree

If one party doesn’t agree to the service, the divorce proceedings can still occur. If both parties agree, the divorce will be made jointly. If not, the application can be made alone.

Joint Applications

• You won’t need to ‘serve’ your former partner with a copy of the application
• Both parties can usually avoid attending court (physically, or by video conference or telephone).

Applications Made Alone

• You are responsible for seeing that the application is ‘served’ on your former spouse
• You will need to ensure that evidence of that service is lodged with the court
• A court proceeding will be required.

Damien Greer Lawyers can assist through all divorce proceedings, but particularly if you are making your application alone (or a court appearance is required). We can assist with serving the application, recording the evidence of that service, and any/all legal proceedings associated with the divorce.

De Facto Separations

The Family Law Act recognises de facto relationships if you live together as a couple, regardless of your sex. The Act treats such relationships differently from marriage in that if the existence of such a relationship is disputed, proof will be required, and a Court may have to decide the issue.

When considering whether a de facto relationship exists, the court will look at whether:

  • The period of the relationship must be at least 2 years
  • At least one of the parties in the relationship was ordinarily resident in a participating jurisdiction (all states except Western Australia)
  • Either:
    • both parties were ordinarily resident during at least one third of the period of the relationship, or
    • the applicant for the order made substantial contributions, either financial, non-financial or to the welfare of the family comprising the de facto parties and their children.

Once a de facto relationship is found to exist, the Family Law Act treats those parties no differently to parties who are married when it comes to dealing with property and financial issues. And in any circumstances where there are children, the same laws apply to all parents – regardless of their kind of relationship.

For assistance navigating financial, property or parental matters associated with a de facto separation, we can help. The team at Damien Greer Lawyers have a wealth of experience in family law matters and can help you and your family find the smoothest resolution.

Divorce FAQs

Generally speaking, it can take several months for the official divorce proceeding to be finalised. This timeframe begins when the application is first filed with the court and ends when the court issues the divorce order. However, once your divorce order becomes final, you have a period of 12 months in which to apply to the court for a property settlement. If you and your former partner are unable to come to an agreement on your own, you may want to seek legal advice before potentially lose your right to apply to the court.
Once your divorce has been granted, it will be finalised one month and one day later, unless a special order is made by the court to shorten that time. After your divorce has been finalised, you are able to re-marry.
You do not have to wait for your divorce order to become final in order to obtain a property settlement or formalise the arrangements for your children. Particularly if matters around your children are unable to be agreed upon, you should seek professional legal advice. Damien Greer Lawyers can help, ensuring your family finds the smoothest and fairest possible arrangements.

The cost of a divorce application to be filed in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia is currently $990. This can be reduced to $330 if you meet certain conditions.. This fee is set by the Federal Government and is increased every two years.

In some instances where an application for a divorce is not jointly made, there may be a cost to serve the application on your former spouse.

It is also important to note that if you require solicitors to act for you – for example, to draft your application or appear on your behalf at a contentious hearing – that additional legal costs will be incurred.

Getting divorced is not the same as negotiating and obtaining a property settlement. This will require a separate application to be filed and further costs incurred.

In Australia, anyone undergoing family law court proceedings is protected by Section 121 of the Family Law Act 1975. This means that details of family law court proceedings (including divorces) cannot be disclosed by newspapers, radio broadcasts or television reports. Once your proceedings are finalised, records are often indexed and stored for up to 100 years. Judgements are routinely published for use by the legal profession, but these are done under pseudonyms to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.
Joshua Williams

I listen to clients to get to the root of their concerns so we can implement tailored solutions to achieve resolution as soon as possible.

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