How to Get Divorced in Australia: Legal Steps, Costs & What to Expect with Chloe Rattray

Thinking about divorce or separation? Or maybe you’re already in it and feeling overwhelmed?

In this episode of Get Rich, Molly chats with Chloe Rattray from Lander & Rogers, one of Australia’s leading family lawyers, to break down the divorce and separation process in clear, simple steps.

We cover:

✅  The first legal steps to take when separating
✅ What’s considered joint property (spoiler: it includes super and trusts)
✅  How property settlements work and what to avoid
✅  What happens if one partner hides assets or refuses to cooperate
✅  The difference between divorce and de facto relationships
✅ How child support and custody are handled
✅  The biggest mistakes women make during a split

Whether you’re considering separation, already in the thick of it, or supporting a friend through it — this episode is full of insights every woman should know.

This episode is brought to you by InvestorKit, Australia’s #1 Buyers Agency for 2023 and 2024. They specialise in helping investors find high-growth properties utilising industry leading AI and data driven research process across Australia. 70%+ of the properties they purchase are off-market and they have consistently outperformed national average capital growth rates by over 49%. Whether you’re looking to build your property portfolio or secure your first investment. Check them out here.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Welcome to Get Rich & Intro to Divorce and Separation
00:57 – First Legal Steps to Take When Considering Divorce
01:31 – What is Full & Frank Financial Disclosure?
01:38 – Separation vs Divorce vs Property Settlement
02:47 – Do You Need to Live Separately to Be Legally Separated?
03:27 – Time Limits After Divorce or Separation
04:07 – Should You Do the Property Settlement Before the Divorce?
04:43 – How Property Is Actually Split (And the 70/30 Myth)
05:25 – What Counts as Joint Property (Including Super & Crypto)
06:11 – How Superannuation Is Treated in a Split
06:50 – How to Legally Enforce a Property Settlement
08:01 – Real Example: Why You Must Document Everything
09:08 – What Changes When Kids Are Involved
09:53 – How Child Support Is Calculated
10:52 – What If He Has “No Income”?
11:22 – Legal Protections for Family Violence or Coercive Control
12:32 – Mediation vs Court: What Actually Happens
13:50 – What to Do If You Can’t Afford Legal Fees
14:40 – Biggest Mistakes People Make During Divorce
15:07 – Social Media Evidence: What Not to Post
16:37 – Who Should Be on Your Divorce Support Team?
17:35 – Are You in a De Facto Relationship Without Realising?
19:10 – The One Thing Chloe Wishes More Women Knew
20:39 – Where to Get Help & Contact Chloe’s Team
21:35 – Wrap-Up & Final Thoughts

LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

National Domestic Violence Helpline – 1800RESPECT - https://1800respect.org.au/
Divorce & Money Planning Resources - https://www.ladiesfinanceclub.com/divorce-checklist-form
Services Australia – https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/

CONNECT WITH CHLOE RATTRAY

Website: https://www.landers.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/landerrogers
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lander-rogers/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/landerrogers 

CONNECT WITH LADIES FINANCE CLUB

Join our free Facebook group - Ladies Finance Club Money Chat
Website: https://www.ladiesfinanceclub.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladiesfinanceclub/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ladies-finance-club/

TAKEAWAYS

• Start collating documents for your divorce.
• Both parties must provide full financial disclosure.
• Separation is just a couple deciding to separate.
• You need to be separated for one year before applying for divorce.
• All assets go into one pot for division during property settlement.
• Child support can be calculated through Services Australia.
• You can seek a family violence intervention order for protection.
• 80% of clients settle their matters at mediation.
• Not documenting the settlement can lead to issues later.
• Knowledge is power; seek legal advice early.

SOUND BITES

"All assets go into one pot for division."
"You can get spousal maintenance support."
"Knowledge is power in divorce situations."

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Molly: Welcome to Get Rich, the podcast that helps you do just that. Get rich and stay rich. Hey, I'm Molly Benjamin. I'm the founder of Ladies Finance Club, one of Australia's largest financial education platforms for women. But before I started helping thousands of women take control with their money, I was a hot financial mess when it came to my own finances and not the fun kind of hot, more like crying in a supermarket, wondering where all my money went kind of hot.

[00:00:29] But here's the thing, if I can go from financial mess to owning a share portfolio, investing in property, and building wealth. Then you can too. My mission is simple to make women rich because when we have financial freedom, we have choices, confidence, and control over our future. Every week on Get Rich, I sit down with some of the best experts in the industry to break down how we can all start investing, growing our money, and creating long-term financial security without the jargon, boring bits or overwhelm.

[00:01:02] Because when women get rich, we don't just change our lives, we change the world. So if you're ready to start making some smart money moves, hit that subscribe button and let's get Rich together.

[00:01:18] I had a lady come up to me, and it was a road show when we were in Tasmania, and she said. I wanna divorce my husband, what do I do? And I was kind of like, you need to speak to a family lawyer first. So what I wanted to do was get Chloe Reay on the podcast. So she's a top family lawyer from Lander and Rogers, and I wanted her to walk her through kind of like everything we need to know about the legal and financial side of divorce and separation in Australia, because breaking up is really tough.

[00:01:47] It's emotional. Can leave women financially devastated, but it doesn't have to be this way. If you follow these steps, it's gonna make it a whole lot easier. So we're gonna cover what are those exact first legal steps you need to take when separating what counts as joint property. We're also gonna cover how property settlements actually work, um, dealing with child support, custody, and spousal maintenance, and also what happens when your ex isn't playing fair.

[00:02:13] The difference between divorce, separation, and de facto. Biggest mistakes Chloe sees women make during a split up. And that one was really interesting. So this is one of those, listen before you needed episodes or maybe one you send to a girlfriend who might be going through a breakup or might be thinking about separation and divorce.

[00:02:32] And if you're enjoying this podcast, please send it to a girlfriend. And if you haven't yet signed up to our free Online Wealth Summit, it is happening on the 29th of August. It's a free day full of financial literacy. You can [email protected]. Alright, I hope you enjoyed this episode.

[00:02:52] Alright, thank you so much, Chloe, for coming on the podcast. Thanks for having me, Molly. So, as mentioned in the intro, this session is all about divorce, separation, and preparing for it. So Chloe, let's start at the top. What are some of the first legal steps someone should take if they're considering divorce in Australia?

[00:03:11] Chloe: Look, the first things I typically say to people are dark collating documents. And when I refer to collating documents, I'm talking about any documents which will help us ascertain what's in the asset pool to be split between these two parties. So what assets are they, what debts exist? That's a really good starting point.

[00:03:33] And then otherwise see a family lawyer and get some initial advice.

[00:03:37] Molly: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so start collecting your, your data. Yes. And which I imagine can be quite tricky to do if someone's been a little bit separated from the finances. It

[00:03:48] Chloe: can. And so for some people it's just not possible. One of the very first steps when you are working through a property settlement with a client and with.

[00:03:58] Couples is that both parties have an obligation to provide what we call full and frank financial disclosure. So both parties are under an obligation to provide a whole lot of these documents to one another. If they don't do it, then there are other avenues we can go down. But each party certainly has bad obligation.

[00:04:16] Molly: And what is the actual difference between separation and divorce? Like legally speaking? 'cause they're not the same thing.

[00:04:22] Chloe: No. And okay, so a separation is really just a couple deciding to separate. It happens when one party communicates it to the other. A divorce, and I think what you're really referring to is a property settlement.

[00:04:36] So the divorce is simply the dissolution of the marriage. It's really straightforward. You make an application to the family court, a divorce order is made and your marriage is over. The property settlement, however, is the part where as family lawyers, we spend most of the time.

[00:04:54] Molly: Mm. Okay. So it's actually the property settlement.

[00:04:58] So the divorce itself, and I think we've had earlier conversations about this. So that's just like a piece of paper that you sign.

[00:05:05] Chloe: It is. So, it's an application before the court, um, seeking to. End your marriage for want of a better word, and you can do that either together. So the parties can apply jointly or it can be done by either party.

[00:05:21] Molly: And how long do you need to be separated? Is there a period of time that you need to be separated for before you can actually apply for that divorce? Yeah. So

[00:05:28] Chloe: you need to be separated for one year before you can apply for that divorce.

[00:05:35] Molly: And can you still live in the same house and be separated?

[00:05:38] Chloe: Yeah. You can live under the one roof.

[00:05:40] You may need to then provide the court with a bit more evidence to show that you definitely have been separated so that they will make that divorce order. But it's certainly possible.

[00:05:50] Molly: Okay. And then I remember we talked about it on another podcast episode in regards to once that divorce has gone through, you can't then claim anything against that person after a certain period of time.

[00:06:02] Is that right? Yeah, that's

[00:06:04] Chloe: exactly right. So there's a time limit that starts running. So from the date your divorce becomes official, you have a time limit of one year to be able to issue proceedings in the family court to seek a property settlement. And then I should say for defacto couples, so couples who aren't married and a divorce is irrelevant.

[00:06:23] It's a period of two years from the date of separation.

[00:06:27] Molly: Okay, so that's quite important, I guess, information for people who are like, I'm over this. I just want a divorce. You sign the papers and then you're like, okay, now we need to settle the property. Would you say, would your advice be, do the property first and then sign the divorce?

[00:06:42] Chloe: Yeah. I typically say to clients, unless there's other reasons, um, not to, my advice is usually get your property settlement done. The divorce is the final tick box at the end.

[00:06:53] Molly: Yeah. And again, I know we've spoken about this in the past, so when it comes to the divorce, like no two divorces are the same. So what happened to your best friend?

[00:07:02] It's like maybe it was 50 50. It's gonna look very different for you depending on your circumstances. Is it true that all your assets kind of get put into a. Pot and then divvied up depending on your different circumstances.

[00:07:16] Chloe: Yeah, that's a, it's a good way of phrasing it. Honestly. I think if I had a, uh, a dollar for every time a client said to me, my friend got 70%, so that's what I get, isn't it?

[00:07:26] I'd be, uh, quite a wealthy family lawyer. But anyway, it's, what happens is we do, we, all the assets go into the one pot ready to be divided. And then the court goes through a bit of a a pathway. So the next step that it looks at is, well, what are the contributions these parties have made to that asset pool?

[00:07:47] They'll look at, well, what future needs or future circumstances are relevant to the parties and come up with a percentage for the split.

[00:07:55] Molly: What's considered joint property in a divorce?

[00:07:57] Chloe: Okay, so joint property is any assets or liabilities held by either party or both parties together. Assets held with other parties that party's interest in that asset could be held within the asset pool.

[00:08:12] And I guess joint property can really be things like houses, cryptocurrency, shares, bank accounts, super interesting companies and trusts if it's within the party's control.

[00:08:24] Molly: Great. And so super makes that part of that split, I'm assuming during a divorce.

[00:08:29] Chloe: It does, although super's dealt with a little bit differently.

[00:08:32] More often than not, the property pool, excluding super, will be dealt with in a particular way in terms of the percentage split and for mid most, mid to long marriages or relationships. A super will always, almost always be split equally. Okay.

[00:08:50] Molly: And so let's say you've got your property settlement, like you guys have come up with an agreement, like how do you in kind of enforce that agreement to happen?

[00:09:03] Chloe: So once you've got your property settlement, it can be documented in what we call a minute of consent orders, which gets filed with the court or in a binding financial agreement, which is a private contract prepared outside of the court. And once you've legally documented that, that becomes official and there's actually real benefits to properly documenting.

[00:09:27] It gives you some stamp duty. Exemptions, capital gains tax rollover relief in certain circumstances. Awesome.

[00:09:35] Molly: And are there kind of any circumstances where like you do the property settlement and then the person might not actually. Act the way they're meant to. Yes,

[00:09:45] Chloe: that can happen at times. You are able to bring what's called an enforcement application before the court.

[00:09:53] So for example, if someone, if part of the terms of the deal was that a house has to be sold and the other party won't sell the contracts and the selling documents, you can make an application to the court for someone from the court to actually sign those documents in place at the other party. Awesome.

[00:10:09] Molly: Do you have any stories maybe where something like that's happened that you can share? Like where a client or maybe that they left, they kind of got, did the divorce and then they found out later on like, oh, I can't, 'cause it was just wor, they just talked about it, but nothing was on paper.

[00:10:26] Chloe: So in circumstances where they agreed upon an outcome together, but then it was never actually, yes.

[00:10:31] Yeah, absolutely. So I had, I've once had a situation where a lady came to me and said, look, we did this deal. We sold the house. That's great. But now he's coming to me saying. I need this. And as part of it, she kept one property, but that property had gone up significantly in value during that time. And when we look at the asset pool to be split, we don't look at the value of items at the time of separation, but at the time when the settlement, the formal settlement goes through.

[00:11:02] So that property going up in value was a really significant issue for her. Oh wow. Okay. So I guess, does

[00:11:10] Molly: the divorce process. Change when kids are involved.

[00:11:13] Chloe: It can, because it can impact when we, when I was saying before, when we're looking at those contributions and future circumstances, it can impact the property settlement in terms of what percentage might be appropriate.

[00:11:28] And then of course there's, uh, on top of the property settlement, there's working out parenting arrangements for the children as well.

[00:11:35] Molly: And I hear a lot, especially through some of our members, like they'll be like, my part, my ex-partner pays $8 a week in child support. So how does the child support get calculated and managed?

[00:11:47] Chloe: So there's a few ways you can deal with child support. The first way is through Services Australia and you can jump online. There's a calculator and you can type in all your relevant details. And it was. Spit out and tell you what you or your partner's likely to need to pay. So it looks at things like both of your taxable incomes, the percentage of time you have with the children, their ages.

[00:12:11] There's this whole complicated formula involved. So that's one way in Services Australia will collect the funds for you. There are other ways such as entering into a private contract called a binding child support agreement, which may be more appropriate, particularly if you've got things like private school fees involved, which quite frankly, the child support calculator just doesn't properly reflect.

[00:12:34] And then you can even seek what we call departure orders from the court. So effectively, child support orders from the court.

[00:12:41] Molly: And I mean if someone's divorcing a guy or, I mean it's, it's ladies finance club, so I'm gonna say a guy and they've lost their job. They don't have any income coming in conveniently for them.

[00:12:54] Does that mean they pay no support?

[00:12:56] Chloe: Yeah. So if they've got no income, then absolutely. And their other partner, uh, does have an income. The other partner would be the one assessed to be paying support.

[00:13:07] Molly: And what I guess legal protections are available for someone experiencing family violence or pervasive control.

[00:13:15] Again, does that change the situation?

[00:13:18] Chloe: Yes, it can. So as of last month, so from a family law property settlement perspective, as of last month, there are a whole lot of amendments to the Family Law Act, which I guess. Better take into account some concepts which were there in case law, but are now formulated in the legislation.

[00:13:38] But for anyone dealing with family violence, there's of course the ability to seek a family violence intervention order that's dealt within the magistrate's court and it can offer them some protection. It can remove people from homes at times. And then I guess the other thing is that in the family court there are programs such as what we call the Lighthouse Project, and that identifies high risk cases and makes sure that they're put into specialized court lists, which are managed by judges and staff trained in, uh, trauma informed practice.

[00:14:11] Molly: Okay. So there's that help there. Mm-hmm. So I guess as well, like we're used to seeing the movies and like all divorces end in court, but I know a lot actually, well majority end up in mediation. So what's the difference between and what is mediation and going to court?

[00:14:28] Chloe: Yeah, that's a really good point. I think 80% of my clients will actually settle their matter at mediation.

[00:14:36] So a mediation is like a big meeting with a. Both parties, their solicitors, sometimes barristers as well, and a mediator. And the mediator is usually a former barrister or a former judge, and that mediator is there to move between the rooms and try and broker a deal and settle the matter once and for all.

[00:15:02] Molly: For people who don't have a huge amount of money, or for women who are maybe in that situation where their partner's been the earner, but now they're going through a divorce, what options are there for them? Do they have to rely on like legal aid or does their partner legally have to pay for some of that representation?

[00:15:20] Chloe: Yeah, so if someone doesn't have access to funds, there are a few options. Uh, there are a little, if there is money in the asset pool to be split, they will end up with a property settlement. There are litigation funders who can actually help fund the fees, and then you pay at the end of the matter. We can also make applications to the court to seek that a lump sum of money, get paid from one party to another to help meet their legal fees.

[00:15:47] Mm-hmm. And of course, if someone's not earning any income and the other party is, we can get spousal maintenance support as well. Okay.

[00:15:55] Molly: Okay, awesome. I mean, you do this, you speak to couples and families every day, like what would be the main mistakes you see people make? And if you can share any examples as well, that'd be great.

[00:16:07] Chloe: I think some of the main mistakes are things we commented on, which is not properly documenting the settlement. It can be really problematic as we discussed. Some of the other things I see particularly in parenting matters is people not being careful with what they put on social media. So. Uploading things that could come around to really damage your case in the future.

[00:16:34] You have to think. That could be evidence that's put before the court and a judge may read it.

[00:16:39] Molly: What would that be like? Like mess, like sharing stories of you like at having fun with your girlfriends, or is it more like. What would it be?

[00:16:48] Chloe: Oh, so it can be things like, yes, you know, you are saying on the one hand you have no income whatsoever, and yet you've got a Facebook business page for this candle making business.

[00:17:01] You've got off to the side. Or it could be for parenting someone who says, well, I don't drink at all, and then there's photos of them off partying on the weekend, text messages, emails. Anything that is in writing, just be really careful.

[00:17:16] Molly: Awesome. Anything else you'd add to that? The social media one's really interesting though because I can imagine it is not even thinking about that.

[00:17:23] 'cause you're just like, oh, and then that all of a sudden being used against you and caught God, you'd be pissed. It really comes down to bite people in the bum for one to a

[00:17:33] Chloe: better word. Yeah.

[00:17:34] Molly: And then I guess alongside a great family lawyer, what other. Services support team do you kind of need on your side?

[00:17:45] Chloe: Yeah, look, there's, for people who need it, there's obviously mental health support. So psychologists go off to your gp, get your mental health plan, and that gets you supported access to some free or discounted sessions with various supports. Relying upon your trusted advisors, your financial advisors, your accountants can all play a really big role in helping support you.

[00:18:09] And there are even. Things like divorce coaches out there, which for certain clients who really need that extra handholding can be really worthwhile.

[00:18:18] Molly: Yeah, absolutely. I know we work with a few divorce coaches as well, so ladies, please reach out if you need to be connected. Yeah, very helpful. And Chloe, we've mentioned in the past, but sometimes people don't even realize they're in de facto relationships.

[00:18:31] The relationship breaks up and all of a sudden. They're being treated like they're in a marriage. Yeah. I guess kind of what words of wisdom or advice would you have for people in that situation?

[00:18:45] Chloe: So. That's right. I think people often forget that if you're in a de facto relationship, you have the same rights as a married couple to a property settlement.

[00:18:57] And people often say, well, you know, but I need to be in a de facto relationship for two years, don't I before I can make a claim? And typically the short answer is yes, but you can actually still make a claim if you can show that other contributions have been made by you in that time. So I think. Even if you are in a de facto relationship, if you're a little bit wary of it, maybe keep your finances separate for the, for the start, just until you are really committed.

[00:19:24] Awesome.

[00:19:25] Molly: And finally, like what advice do you wish more women knew before starting this whole process?

[00:19:31] Chloe: Oh, that's a good question. I think I wish more people knew to reach out and get advice. Firstly, yeah, once you meet with an initial, uh, have an initial meeting with a family lawyer. If they have enough information, they can usually give you a pretty good guide as to what your final outcome could be.

[00:19:51] With that you can use it to try and do a deal direct and then their, the family lawyer's role is really diminished to just having to draw up settlement documents, which is ideal, but I think. Having knowledge is power in this situation. And so get that initial advice, understand what your future may look like, and then you can really plan to set yourself up.

[00:20:13] Molly: Yeah, I think that is so important. Like that, get advice early. 'cause I, I remember we were doing a road show around Australia and one lady came up to me and she was getting separated. She found out her partner was. Having an affair. Yeah. And the husband had said, let's not get advice. Let's just try and work it out ourselves.

[00:20:32] She luckily ignored him and then got really good advice that really changed things. And what he was doing by trying to buy time was actually hiding money around and finances. So the fact that she'd it so early meant that she was in a really good. Position going forward because she'd got that good advice and that was actually advice of Landon Rogers as well.

[00:20:55] Chloe: So, oh, there you go. Yes. We've got a great team of boys here across Australia.

[00:21:00] Molly: Yeah. So Chloe, if maybe someone is being like, I think I need to have that conversation, where can they go if they wanna learn more about what you guys do?

[00:21:08] Chloe: So they can go directly to our website. We actually have on our. Site, an online inquiry system, which will generate it for you.

[00:21:17] We will then put you in touch with the right type of lawyer in our team for you. We have lawyers in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. So, but despite that Act four clients all over Australia and in fact overseas, so. Family laws a commonwealth jurisdiction, so it's make an inquiry, reach out to any of us and we're always happy to assist.

[00:21:39] Molly: And I believe Landon Rogers has one of the biggest family lawyer teams in Australia. So you'll be It does after.

[00:21:45] Chloe: It absolutely does. Yeah. We really do.

[00:21:48] Molly: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and explaining the process of divorce. No worries at all. Thank you so much for having me, Molly.

KEYWORDS

divorce, separation, property settlement, child support, family law, legal advice, de facto relationships, family violence, mediation, legal protections