What are the requirements to apply for a divorce?
- You and your spouse must have been separated for at least 12 months before you can apply for divorce;
- You or your spouse must meet the residency requirements;
- The Court needs to be satisfied that for any children under 18 years, there are arrangements in place for their day-to-day care, maintenance, and other aspects of their welfare; and
- If applying for divorce after being married for less than 2 years, you must file a counselling certificate or obtain a Court exemption from this.
Separation Requirements
You cannot apply for a divorce unless and until you and your spouse have been separated for more than 12 months. If you and your spouse lived together during any part of the 12-month period immediately before filing the divorce application on a ‘separated under one roof’ basis, further evidence including supporting Affidavits must be submitted to the Court with the divorce application.
Residency Requirements
You can apply for a divorce in Australia if either you or your spouse regard Australia as your home and intend to live indefinitely in Australia, are an Australian citizen by birth or descent, are an Australian citizen by grant of an Australian Citizenship or live in Australia and have done so for 12 months immediately before filing for divorce.
Arrangements for Children
If there is a child or any children of the marriage, the divorce application will need to set out the arrangements for them to spend time and communicate with each parent as well as information related to their health, education, financial support. The Court must be satisfied that proper arrangements are in place for children under 18 or there are special circumstances as to why a divorce order should be granted without proper arrangements for them.
Married for Less than 2 Years
If you and your spouse were married for less than 2 years, there is a requirement for you to file a marriage counselling certificate or a supporting Affidavit as to why you are unable to do so or should be exempt from this requirement.
How to apply?
All divorce applications in Western Australia are to be lodged online through the eCourts portal of Western Australia. The Court filing fee for a divorce is listed on the Family Court of Western Australia website.
Service Requirements
For any sole divorce applications, there are service requirements that need to be met and the Court needs to be satisfied that personal service on the other party has been completed. To satisfy these service requirements, various Court documents need to be filed before a divorce order will be made.
Divorce Hearing
You may or may not need to attend the Divorce Hearing listed by the Court. This will depend on the type of divorce application filed, whether there are any jurisdictional or service-related issues with the application. The date and time of the Divorce Hearing will be listed in the divorce application once filed. You should attend the Divorce Hearing unless you are advised by the Court registry that you do not need to attend.
Divorce Certificate
If a Divorce Order is made at the Divorce Hearing, it becomes final one month and one day later and will subsequently made available to the applicant/s via the ecourts portal. It is important to obtain legal advice regarding your Will and estate matters at the time of attending to your divorce.
Legal Advice and Assistance:
At Prime Law, we deal with all types of divorce applications and can assist you with preparing and finalising your divorce. We offer fixed fees for most types of divorce applications and can take care of all paperwork for you to ensure a seamless process. Please contact our office to obtain a fixed fee quotation and a copy of our divorce questionnaire to get started.
The content of this website is informative only, it is not legal advice.