Complete an Application for Divorce. File, by hand or post, at a family law registry:

• the original and two copies of the Application for Divorce and any supporting documents, and
• a copy of your marriage certificate.

You also need to pay a fee or request an exemption or waiver of the fee by filing an Exemption form or Waiver of Court Fees form. The Court gives you a file number and a time and date for a hearing.

Joint application – the Court keeps your original Application for Divorce and gives you and your spouse a sealed copy of the application and an information brochure ‘Marriage, Families and Separation’.

Sole application – the Court keeps your original Application for Divorce and gives you two copies of the sealed application and information brochure ‘Marriage, Families and Separation’. If you applied for a divorce with your spouse (a joint application), you both keep one copy of the Application for Divorce and the brochure.

If you applied on your own, you must serve a sealed copy of the Application for Divorce and the brochure on your spouse:

• at least 28 days before the hearing date if your husband or wife is in Australia.
• at least 42 days before the hearing date if your husband or wife is overseas.

For more information on service, click here. If there is no child of the marriage aged under 18 years, you are not required to attend the court hearing. This applies for both sole and joint applications.

If you have made a joint application and there is a child of the marriage aged under 18 years, neither you nor your spouse are required to attend the court hearing.

If you have made a sole application and there is a child of the marriage aged under 18 years, you must attend the court hearing unless circumstances prevent you from attending. You may be able to appear by telephone. If your divorce application is successful, the Court will grant a divorce order. The order becomes final one month and one day after it is made, unless it is shortened by order of the Court.

Once the divorce order becomes final, the Court will send a Certificate of Divorce to you and your spouse individually, or to your lawyer if you have one.
The information on this page has been obtained from the Family Law Courts and was last updated on 29 June 2007.

The information is general in nature and does not necessarily reflect our views, or indicate a commitment to a particular course of action. Before any action or decision is taken on the basis of any material on this site you should obtain appropriate independent professional advice. A lawyer can help you understand your legal rights and responsibilities, and explain how the law applies to your case.

What you need to know
Legal words used in court
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