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Relationship breakdown
This section is about family law and other laws that may apply when a relationship ends, such as laws about family violence and about dividing property in de facto and same-sex relationships.
Family law covers all aspects of family relationships – separation, divorce, care of children, financial support of children and former partners, and dividing property.
In Australia, the law encourages you to try to sort out your family law dispute before going to court. This can be done with the help of a family dispute resolution service, where you can get help to work out arrangements for the future. You can use family dispute resolution instead of or as well as court if you:
- are separating
- are thinking about separating
- cannot agree about the care of your children
- cannot agree about dividing your property.
If you have started court proceedings, you can still sort out your dispute with the help of a family dispute resolution service. It will depend on your situation because family dispute resolution may not be the right way to sort out a problem. For example, if the case is urgent or if there is family violence which makes it hard for you to make decisions equally.
If you end up going to court, depending on your situation, your family law dispute may be dealt with by the Commonwealth family law courts or your state/territory courts.
Whether you go to court or not you may want to get legal advice to help you make decisions.
See the 'Children and parenting' section of this website for information about making decisions about children, including child support, parenting plans and parenting orders.