An Enduring Power of attorney is a legal document that allows you to nominate a person or persons to act on your behalf in relation to legal and financial matters such as the sale of a property, operation of bank accounts and other financial aspects when you are unable to manage these on your own.

An Enduring Guardian appointment allows you to nominate one or more persons to make medical and lifestyle decisions such as where you live, what services are provided to you at home and what medical treatment you receive when you lose capacity to make these decisions for yourself.

Whilst you may never need to use this document, it may provide peace of mind to know that someone you trust will be able to make these decisions for you.

Property in the family law context refers to all the assets and liabilities of the relationship. It also includes superannuation. It does not matter whether an asset or liability is in a party’s sole name or joint names or even held with another person they all form part of the asset pool.

Some examples of assets include real property (such as the family home or investment property); cash and bank accounts; vehicles (cars, boats, trailers and caravans); investments (such as shares); business and trust interests; insurance policies; superannuation and other valuables (such as jewellery and heirloom pieces).

Some examples of liabilities include mortgages, personal loans, credit card, store cards and other personal debts.

To apply for divorce, you need a copy of your original marriage certificate, and not the one that they gave you at the church but the one from births, deaths and marriages.  If you don’t have this you can just head to www.service.nsw.gov.au and apply for a copy to be sent to you.

If your marriage certificate is not in English (because you were married overseas), you must have it translated into English by an authorised translating service. The translator will prepare an affidavit which will need filed with your marriage certificate.

If you were born overseas, you will need your citizenship certificate or visa paperwork which shows you are living legally in Australia and have lived here continuously for a period of more than 12 months.

We will also take a copy of your driver’s licence.

Consent orders are a written agreement between the parties that sets out the care welfare and educational decisions relating to the children of the relationship that have been stamped by the court. Consent orders have the same legal effect as if they were made by a judicial officer following a court hearing. The Court must be satisfied that the orders sought are in the best interest of the child.

If you have attended Court for the divorce hearing and the Registrar has granted your divorce it does not become final until one calendar month and one day after your hearing.  After this date you will be issued with a decree stating that your divorce is final.

You can reach out to us through the contact us form, via email, phone or by simply dropping into see us in our singleton office.

Sole Applications

When there are children under eighteen then the Applicant must attend the divorce hearing, but if there are no children and all other requirements of service have been met then you do not need to attend.  The Respondent does not need to attend but can attend if they wish unless they have filed a response stating that they do not wish to be divorced.  In this case they need to attend in person.

Joint Applications

If you and your former spouse have jointly applied for divorce, then neither of you are required to attend even if there are children under eighteen.

I have attended the divorce hearing – am I divorced now?

If you have attended Court for the divorce hearing and the Registrar has granted your divorce it does not become final until one calendar month and one day after your hearing.  After this date you be issued with a decree nisi stating that your divorce is final.

The main reasons for formalising your parenting matter by consent orders is that it provides certainty as the orders are final and enforceable once made however if you require more flexibility than you may find that a parenting plan is sufficient. Ultimately that is a decision for you.

There are time limits to finalise outstanding property issues.  Consent orders provide a resolution on a final basis to divide the assets and liabilities and superannuation of the parties. You may also be eligible for a stamp duty exemption if a family home is transferred pursuant to consent orders. The Court will review these orders to satisfy that they promote a just and equitable division of the party’s assets, liabilities and superannuation.