Simply Divorce and Consent Orders

These fees are in addition to our service charges for preparing and filing your divorce application or application for consent orders. The Family Court charges a filing fee of $1,125 for a divorce application. If you hold eligible concession cards or receive Austudy or Abstudy, you may qualify for a reduced divorce filing fee of $375. To process this reduced fee, we will need a copy of your concession card.

The Court fee for filing property settlement consent orders or parenting consent orders is $205, and our personnel can guide you through the application for consent orders process to ensure everything is prepared and submitted correctly.

You can apply for consent orders without attending court by drafting the application for consent orders yourself, provided an agreement has been reached with the other party. While legal representation is not mandatory, engaging a family lawyer or separation lawyer is recommended, as the Court has specific requirements regarding the best interests of children in parenting matters and a fair and equitable outcome in property disputes. Once approved, consent orders become legally binding.

The Court requires that the prescribed forms for the application for consent orders are completed correctly along with any necessary supporting documents. Additionally, the Minute of consent outlining the agreement itself must be written in legal terms. We will guide you through preparing and drafting these documents accurately, but we do not provide legal advice. We recommend seeking the advice of a qualified family lawyer to understand how the law applies to your case.

In certain situations where your spouse is unwilling to receive the filed legal divorce documents, it may be necessary to arrange for personal service. We can engage a third-party process server to handle the personal service and prepare the required Affidavit of Service for filing with the Court. The process server fee is separate from our service charges for preparing your divorce application or application for consent orders. An invoice from the process server for this service will be provided to you for payment.

Please note that this fee does not apply if your spouse is legally represented and has instructed their family lawyer or separation lawyer to accept service on their behalf.

You can request a replacement certificate from the Births, Deaths and Marriages registry. Please use the following link to apply: https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/marriages-and-relationships/get-a-marriage-certificate

You can proceed with your divorce application if either you or your spouse is an Australian citizen, holds permanent residency in Australia, or considers Australia their home and has lived here for at least 12 months prior to filing the divorce application. We will work with you through the process to ensure your divorce application is completed accurately offering the quickest divorce filing.

You can file for divorce in the state where you currently reside.

Yes, you are still eligible to apply for a divorce.

You can apply for divorce in Australia; however, you must have attended relationship counselling with your spouse. Your counsellor will need to provide a counselling certificate in a court-approved form to support your divorce application. If you have not attended counselling, you will need to seek the Court’s permission and file an affidavit along with your divorce application.

The divorce hearing is typically listed 6 to 8 weeks after the legal divorce documents have been filed.

The divorce process is completed 31 days after the divorce hearing, during which time the parties are not permitted to remarry.