Consent Orders
If you have separated from your spouse on a final basis and have reached agreement on parenting arrangements, property settlement, spousal or de facto maintenance, and/or superannuation splitting, you may consider applying for consent orders to formalise the agreement and make it legally binding.
The Court can only make the orders sought if they comply with the requirements of the Family Law Act 1975. In parenting matters, the proposed orders must be in the best interests of the child. In financial or property matters, the orders must be just and equitable.
Use the button below to book an instant legal consultation, or a free call with an experienced family lawyer to discuss how can Consent Orders can be prepared to suit your circumstances.
Scope of Consent Orders
Consent Orders can include
- Parenting orders
- Property orders about how your property, superannuation, financial resources and liabilities should be divided
- Spousal / De facto maintenance orders about the financial support for a party to a marriage or former party to a marriage
Avoid Overlap with Binding Financial Agreements
Consent Orders and a Financial Agreement cannot cover the same property issues.
If you already have a Financial Agreement and wish to apply for Consent Orders relating to property matters, you must include the Financial Agreement with your application so the Court can ensure that the two documents deal with different matters.
When to apply for Consent Orders
The Consent Orders can be applied both before the commencement of court proceedings, or at any time during the proceedings, or to vary or discharge existing family law orders.
You can lodge the application for consent orders as soon as you have separated on a final basis from your ex-partner, even before you make the application for divorce. However, if the divorce order has been made, then you have time restrictions to apply for orders regarding property settlement
Process of Consent Orders
If there are no active proceedings, you may reach an agreement and apply for consent orders on your own.
There will be no standard process time (as it really depends on the volume of the matters in the list of each registry), usually it takes 6 to 8 weeks before a Registrar of the Family Court to review your application for consent orders. If the registrar is satisfied that the property orders sought by the parties are just and equitable, the registrar will make the orders as per proposed orders prepared by your lawyer.
If the registrar requires further information in making that determination, they then will issue a requisition which is a written request for information to be provided in the form and time frame as requested. Parties must comply with the requisition for the registrar to reconsider and approve of the making of the consent orders.
If there are proceedings on foot, once you and the other party have agreed on the orders, one of the lawyers will draft the final orders in a court approved format. These are then filed with the court. The court will consider the orders and determine whether they represent a just and equitable outcome, generally within 3-4 weeks. If successful, sealed orders will be made available and the orders will be enforceable.
A judge may also make requisitions, or further questions regarding the orders. For each requisition made by the court, an additional two weeks are required for the orders to be approved.
Costs of consent orders
We offer a fixed-fee pricing solution for certain family law services, including some consent orders, providing greater cost certainty, increased transparency and improved efficiency. More about fixed-fee service
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