Property and financial agreements

If you and your ex-partner agree about how to divide your property when you separate, you can make an informal or formal (court enforceable) agreement.

When you need legal advice

Get legal advice if you:

  • are considering signing a financial agreement or consent orders
  • need to change an existing financial agreement or consent orders.

How to get legal advice

Does it matter if we weren’t married?

No. De facto (including same-sex) couples have the same property rights as married couples.

Agreeing on a property settlement

Try to reach an agreement about how to divide your property without going to court. There are services that can help you agree on a fair split.

Learn more about dividing your property fairly.

Time limits

Unless there are special circumstances, there are time limits to apply for consent or financial orders. You must apply:

  • within one year from the date your divorce order has taken effect
  • within 2 years from the date your de facto relationship ended.

Informal agreements

You can make an informal agreement about how you will divide your property, but this isn’t recommended as it’s not legally binding (enforceable) by a court. You can make an agreement legally binding by having the court make it into consent orders, or by making a financial agreement following certain rules.

Consent orders

Consent orders are an agreement between ex-partners that is approved by the court and then made into a court order.

You must show the court the agreement is fair before it will make consent orders.

Learn how fairness is decided.

When making consent orders, the court aims to make sure they are final, so there’ll be no need to come back to court later. To cancel consent orders, you must prove at least one of the below:

  • there was fraud (dishonesty)
  • the orders are impractical to carry out (not just inconvenient)
  • there are exceptional circumstances relating to the children’s care, welfare and development.

Financial agreements

The law allows couples to make legally binding (enforceable) financial agreements about their property. These can be made before, during or at the end of a relationship. Financial agreements made before a marriage are often called ‘pre-nuptial agreements’.

In a relationship breakdown, financial agreements can cover:

  • the maintenance of one or both people in the relationship
  • how assets and money are divided
  • other issues.

Before a financial agreement is legally binding:

  • each person must get independent legal advice about
    • how the agreement will affect their rights
    • whether the agreement is to their advantage
  • each person’s lawyer must sign a document saying they gave independent advice
  • both people must sign the agreement.

To cancel or change financial agreements, you must prove at least one of the below:

  • there was a fraud (dishonesty)
  • the agreement is not practical to carry out (not just inconvenient)
  • there is a major change in the children’s care and welfare
  • the other person acted in an unconscionable (unethical or unfair) way.

How to get legal advice

We can’t:

  • tell you how much property you may receive in a settlement
  • draft, sign or witness any documents.

We may give legal advice on property and financial agreements. We may be able to explain the process of how to reach a property settlement.

Contact us

Other places to get legal advice:

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Related information

Disclaimer: This content is for general purposes only and not legal advice. If you have a legal problem, please contact us or speak to a lawyer. View our full disclaimer.

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