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If you agree about property and money

Reaching an agreement with the other party offers many advantages, such as:

Why settle without going to court?

It saves you time and money if you can reach agreement between yourselves. You also know exactly what each of you will get, whereas there is uncertainty waiting for a judicial officer to decide for you. Additionally, long court proceedings can increase stress and add to the pressure that you and your family are under.

How you can formalise your agreement

You can agree on how your property should be divided without any court action. You do this through either:


Financial agreements

What are financial agreements?

The Family Law Act provides for parties to a marriage or de facto relationship to enter into a binding legal agreement about the financial arrangements should their marriage or de facto relationship break down. Sometimes people know these agreements as 'prenuptial agreements' but the legal term is 'financial agreements'. 

Sections 90B-90KA of the Family Law Act deal with financial agreements by parties to a marriage. Sections 90UA-90UN apply to financial agreements by de facto couples. The Act only provides for financial agreements between de facto couples if the parties to the relationship were ordinarily resident in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory or Norfolk Island when the agreement was made.

You can make a financial agreement before, during or after a marriage or de facto relationship. These agreements can cover:

For a financial agreement to be legally binding, you must both have:

Can a financial agreement be set aside?

A court can declare the agreement invalid, and set it aside. The situations in which that is possible are provided at Section 90K (married couples) and Section 90UM (de facto couples) of the Family Law Act.


Consent orders

What are consent orders

A consent order is a written agreement that is approved by a court. Signing draft consent orders means you agree with the orders and will follow the terms stated in the document. When the consent order is made, it has the same effect as a court order made by a judicial officer after a court hearing.

You and your former partner can apply for consent orders to be made without going to court.

How do you apply for consent orders?

Using the Family Court's Application for Consent Orders kit, you ask the Family Court to make consent orders in the terms of your agreement. Consent orders about property and financial orders may deal with:

Consent orders cannot be made about:

Once you have completed the Application for Consent Orders, file it by post or in person with the family law registry nearest you. There is no need for you to attend court.

There is no filing fee to apply for consent orders.

For more information or to get an Application for Consent Orders form or kit go to the Forms section of this website, call 1300 352 000 or visit your nearest family law registry.

You cannot directly apply for consent orders in the Federal Magistrates Court. However, if you already have a case in that Court and you reach agreement, orders can be made.

Before applying for consent orders, you should consider obtaining legal advice about the effect of any proposed consent orders. Before making the consent orders a court will need to be satisfied that the orders are properly drafted and that the terms of the agreement are "just and equitable" .  

What if you cannot agree about property and financial arrangements?

You can apply the Family Court or the Federal Magistrates Court for financial orders. For more information follow the above left link at 'In this section' to the page titled 'If you don't agree about property and money'.