CHAPTER CONTENTS

Last Updated 21 November 2016. This chapter is under review.

pdf_downloadProperty Orders for Separating Couples
Declaration of Interests in Property of Separating Couples
Pathway to Property Settlement for Separating Couples
Alteration of Property Interests of Separating Couples
Quantification of Assets and Liabilities of Separating Couples
Distributing Property Between Separating Couples
Variation of Property Orders for Separating Couples
Agreement about Property Division Between Separating Couples
Putting a Property Settlement into Effect
Protecting Property Before a Final Court Decision

Property has a very broad meaning at law and includes everything that is capable of being owned. Assets, such as the family home, blocks of land, bank accounts, furniture, cars, shares and interests in business are all property.

Ordinarily, property is owned by the party in whose name the property is registered. The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) provides the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia (combined referred to as the family law courts) with wide powers to make orders in relation to the property of the parties to a relationship, including altering existing property rights and also to issue injunctions to protect property until a final order is made.

The family law courts draw a distinction between property and financial resources. Property is capable of being distributed between the parties by way of property settlement on the breakdown of a relationship, while financial resources are not.