To apply for divorce in Australia, you will have to meet a certain eligibility criteria before you file for divorce online. In our article Divorce Requirements: Eligibility for Divorce in Australia, these criteria’s are described and debated.
Form Divorce Application
You will need to finish a divorce application to apply for divorce in Australia. Online at The Commonwealth Courts Portal, you can fill out this application form. Alternatively, from the Federal Circuit Court website, you can download the form and either type or write your information manually on the form.
Swear or affirm the divorce application form
Once you have finished the Divorce Application form, in the presence of a lawyer or a Justice of the Peace, you will have to swear or affirm the form. In the presence of another individual authorized to witness your signature on the form, an alternative technique is to swear or affirm the form.
Who qualifies on my divorce request as an ' other authorized individual' to witness my signature?
As for who qualifies as an' other authorized individual' to witness your signature on the Divorce Application Form, this will be regulated by the legislation of the country or territory where you experienced your signature. This is because; depending on the state or territory, the appropriate oaths and affirmations may differ. Before selecting an individual to witness your signature on the form, you should check the state or territorial legislation.
What if I'm abroad when I witness the request for divorce?
If you are abroad, a Notary Public, an Australian Diplomatic Officer or an Australian Consular Officer, or an Employee of the Australian Trade Commission, may witness your signature on your application for divorce form.
Submit the divorce application form and supporting papers when you file for divorce online.
You will need to post or hand over the initial signed document and any other appropriate records to a Family Law Registry together with two photocopies of each document after you have completed and sworn or confirmed the Application for Divorce form when getting a divorce in Australia. You will also need to include a photocopy of your marriage certificate, although it need not be sworn, confirmed, or even licensed. Furthermore, if you have been married to your spouse for less than two years, you will have to provide a certificate of counseling when you file for divorce. All these papers will then be submitted to the Registry of Family Law.
Does the divorce need to be agreed by my spouse?
Your wife does not need to agree to the divorce for the request. That said, the status of your application would vary depending on whether or not your wife chooses to collaborate with you on the application. Depending on whether you can actually find your wife when making the request, your application status would also vary. In particular, you can either file a single request on your own, or together with your wife you can file a joint request.
Understanding sole applications and joint applications
If your wife does not cooperate with you in connection with the application, or you are unable to locate your partner, then you are going to lodge a single request. This would imply that you, together with your wife as the respondent, would prepare and file the request yourself as a single applicant. Alternatively, if your spouse agrees with the divorce and cooperates with you in the preparation and filing for Divorce application, you would create a joint request. In that case, joint candidates would be you and your wife.
What happens when your request for divorce is submitted?
You will obtain a file number from the Court and a time and date for the hearing when you submit your request to the Family Law Registry. If you apply together, the Court will retain the initial document and provide a sealed copy to your wife. If you apply on your own, you will obtain both sealed copies, and you will have to serve one of those copies on your wife, along with a Court data brochure.
Divorce service requirements
If you submit a joint request with your wife, there is no necessity to serve him or her with the application. If you file as a single applicant, however, you will have to serve this request on your wife at least 28 days before the hearing if your wife lives in Australia or 42 days if they reside abroad. Either you can serve the request by post on your wife or you can have a third party serving the records by hand, as you are not permitted to serve them by yourself.
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