Property and Financial Agreements and Consent Orders – What You Need To Know

This guide provides information to separating couples about the options for resolving their property arrangements, from an informal agreement through to filing consent orders with the court and litigating the matter in court.

Many separating couples agree on property division arrangements without going to court and the focus of the guide is on negotiating and drafting clearly written consent orders.

Consent orders can help couples resolve their financial relationship in a way that avoids the time and expense of litigation. Avoiding the courts can also result in better post-separation parenting relationships for couples with children.

This guide has been designed as a practical resource to assist separating and separated couples to prepare financial agreements and consent orders in family law property matters.

Every family is different, so the guide provides a range of examples and tips on how to negotiate and draft consent orders in property matters.

The guide is also a useful resource for legal practitioners, mediators and arbitrators who are assisting parties to resolve property disputes.

We prepared this guide with the assistance of Professor Richard Chisholm AM to sit alongside our existing publication: Parenting Orders – What You Need To Know.

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This guide is provided in accordance with, and subject to, the Department’s disclaimer, which you acknowledge to have read in accessing this guide.