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Why timing is important

Family law decisions do not all need to be made immediately, but some dates have legal or practical consequences. Acting early can preserve evidence, create space for negotiation and reduce the risk of discovering a deadline after it has passed.

This article gives general information about common timing issues after separation. A lawyer should check the date and rule that applies to your circumstances.

Property settlement time limits

For people who were married, an application for property adjustment generally must be made within 12 months after the divorce becomes final. The clock is linked to the divorce date, not simply the date of separation.

For people who were in a de facto relationship, an application for property adjustment generally must be made within two years after the relationship breaks down.

The Court can sometimes allow an application outside these periods, but permission is not automatic. An out-of-time application adds another issue, cost and uncertainty to the case. Obtain advice well before the deadline so there is time to gather documents, exchange disclosure and explore settlement.

Divorce has its own timing rule

An application for divorce can generally be made after the parties have been separated for at least 12 months. Separation can occur under the same roof, although evidence will usually be required to show the relationship ended.

A divorce ends the marriage. It does not itself divide property or make parenting arrangements, and it can start the 12-month period for a married person’s property application. Property issues can be negotiated before a divorce is final.

Evidence is easier to preserve early

The passage of time can make it harder to reconstruct accounts, ownership, contributions and important conversations. After separation, keep lawful copies of relevant financial records and note key dates while events are recent.

Early records can help with:

identifying the property pool and liabilities;
tracing transactions and digital assets;
showing the date of separation;
recording post-separation contributions;
understanding children’s routines and care arrangements; and
documenting safety concerns or breaches of orders.

Parties to financial or property cases have an ongoing duty of full and frank disclosure. Starting early allows time to identify gaps and request missing material.

Children’s matters may need faster action

There is no single general filing deadline for parenting orders, but delay can still matter. Obtain urgent advice if a child has been withheld, moved without agreement, may be taken overseas, is exposed to an immediate safety risk or needs an urgent medical decision.

In less urgent cases, early family dispute resolution can help parents establish workable routines before conflict becomes entrenched.

Family violence and asset risk

Do not wait for an ordinary appointment if someone is in immediate danger. Call 000.

Urgent advice may also be needed where there is a threat to sell, transfer or hide assets. The Court can make interim and protective orders in appropriate cases, but the evidence and timing of an application are important.

Starting early does not always mean going to Court

Early advice should clarify options and deadlines. It can support a negotiated agreement, mediation or consent orders and may help avoid Court proceedings. It also gives the parties time to make informed decisions rather than responding to a last-minute deadline.

How Empower Family Law & Mediation can help

We can identify the dates that matter, explain the available pathways and help you prepare for negotiation, mediation or Court action where necessary.

Read about separation, divorce, property settlement or contact our team.

Your first 30-minute consultation is free. Call (03) 7020 6542.

For official information, see the Court’s financial and property overview and time-limit guidance.

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Deadlines that sit inside the process, not just at the start

The time limits above govern whether you can bring a claim at all. A second set governs what happens once you are in the process, and missing one of these causes delay rather than loss of rights — but the delay can be months.

Consent orders. An Application for Consent Orders should be filed within 12 months of a divorce becoming final, or two years after a de facto relationship ends. Outside that, you need the Court's leave, and two steps are required: the order granting leave must be the first order sought in your proposed orders, and you must consent to the application proceeding out of time at Question 10A. Do only one and the Court may dismiss the application.
Superannuation splitting. If consent orders will bind a superannuation trustee, written notice must be served on the trustee at least 28 days before filing, and the trustee has 28 days to object. You then file proof that they did not object, together with proof of the current value. Without that proof the Court cannot make the orders.
Serving documents. Unless the Court orders otherwise, a filed document must be served as soon as possible and no more than 12 months after the filing date.
The disclosure undertaking. Every party must file a written undertaking about disclosure before the first court date.
Changed finances. If your financial circumstances change after you file a Financial Statement, you must file an amended statement within 21 days, or an affidavit explaining the change where 300 words will cover it.

Maintenance runs on a different clock

Spousal maintenance is not tied to the property timetable in the way people assume:

You can apply without being divorced. Uncommonly, an application can even be made while a marriage is intact.
Once divorced, you must apply within 12 months of the divorce order taking effect.
Where a marriage is declared a nullity, the limit is 12 months from the decree.
For de facto partners, it is two years from the breakdown of the relationship.
Where the need is immediate, the Act provides for urgent maintenance, and there is a separate process for asking the Court to list an application urgently.

Leave is required in each case if you are out of time, and it is not always granted.

One clock that does not run

There are no time limits for child support or child maintenance. If other deadlines have passed, that does not close off support for a child — a useful thing to know when the property position looks difficult.

Timing information on this page reflects the published guidance of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia on financial and property matters, spousal maintenance, consent orders and the duty of disclosure brochure, as at 27 October 2026. It is general information only, not legal advice, and does not replace advice about your own circumstances.

Before a case starts: pre-action steps

Timing obligations begin before anything is filed. The Court expects parties to make every effort to resolve a dispute before commencing litigation, where it is safe to do so, and the duty of disclosure itself starts with the pre-action procedure rather than when proceedings begin.

In parenting matters, family dispute resolution is mandatory before an application can be filed unless an exemption is granted. Obtaining a certificate takes time: you need to find a practitioner registered with the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department, both parties need to be invited and to respond, and sessions need to be scheduled. If a deadline is approaching, starting that process late can be the thing that causes it to be missed.

When a deadline has passed

Applying out of time is possible but not straightforward. You must ask the Court for leave, and leave is not always granted — it is a discretionary decision, not a procedural tick.

Where the application is for consent orders, two steps are both required: the order granting leave must be the first order sought in your proposed orders, and you must separately consent to the application proceeding out of time at Question 10A. Doing only one of them may see the application dismissed. If you do not consent to the orders being made out of time, an Application for Consent Orders is the wrong form entirely and an Application in a Proceeding is needed instead.

The practical consequence is that a missed deadline converts a straightforward application into a contested threshold argument, usually at additional cost and with no guaranteed outcome.

Why evidence decays

Several of the things a family law matter turns on become harder to establish as time passes.

The date of separation is a question of fact, and in de facto matters there is no marriage certificate or divorce order to anchor it. Messages, emails and records of changed living arrangements are the evidence, and they are easier to gather close to the event.

Financial records become harder to obtain, particularly where accounts are closed, employment changes, or a business is restructured. Since the Court considers spent funds through the lens of who contributed more and who needs more, given what has been spent and what remains available for division, keeping specific and detailed records of expenditure during separation has become more important rather than less.

Children's circumstances change, and an arrangement that has operated informally for a long period acquires its own weight. Where you are unhappy with a de facto arrangement, raising it early is materially different from raising it after two years of it operating.

Court information in this section reflects the published guidance of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, as at 27 October 2026. It is general information only, not legal advice.

What are the main deadlines after separation?

If you were married, an application for property adjustment must generally be made within 12 months of the divorce becoming final. If your marriage was declared a nullity, the limit is 12 months from the decree of nullity. If you were in a de facto relationship, you have two years from the breakdown of the relationship. Spousal and de facto maintenance follow the same limits. Outside those periods you must ask the Court for leave to proceed, which is not always granted, so a missed deadline is a real risk rather than a formality. One clock does not run at all: there are no time limits for child support or child maintenance, so financial support for a child remains available even where the property limits have passed.

Are there deadlines once a case has started?

Yes, and these cause delay rather than loss of rights, though the delay can run to months. Unless the Court orders otherwise, a filed document must be served as soon as possible and no more than 12 months after the filing date. A written undertaking about disclosure must be filed before the first court date. If your financial circumstances change after you file a Financial Statement, you must file an amended statement within 21 days, or an affidavit where the change can be set out in 300 words or less. Where consent orders will bind a superannuation trustee, written notice must be served on the trustee at least 28 days before filing, and they have 28 days to object.

What if I am already outside a time limit?

You need the Court's leave, and for consent orders two steps are both required rather than one. The order granting leave to apply out of time must be the first order sought in your proposed orders, and you must separately consent to the application proceeding out of time at Question 10A of the application. If you do only one of them, the Court might dismiss the application altogether. If you do not consent to the orders being made out of time, an Application for Consent Orders is the wrong form and an Application in a Proceeding is needed instead. Leave is not automatic and is not always granted, so take advice promptly rather than assuming the opportunity has gone or that it will be waved through.

Why does acting early help even without a deadline?

Evidence is easier to preserve and options stay open. Records of expenditure, account statements, messages and the circumstances of separation are far simpler to gather close to the event than two years later, and the date of separation itself can become contested where nothing was recorded at the time. Early advice also creates space for negotiation and dispute resolution before positions harden, which is usually cheaper and less damaging than litigation. Because the Court considers spent funds through the lens of who contributed more and who needs more, given what has been spent and what remains available for division, keeping specific and detailed records of expenditure during the separation process has become more important rather than less.

Should I deal with property before or after the divorce?

Usually before. A divorce order ends the marriage and nothing else, but it starts a 12-month clock for property and maintenance applications, and that clock is the single most common way people lose the ability to bring a claim without needing the Court's permission. You can apply for property settlement or maintenance orders arising out of a marriage even though your divorce has not been finalised, so there is no procedural reason to wait. In many cases it is better to resolve the property position first, so the deadline never becomes relevant at all. It is also worth taking advice on the other consequences of a divorce at the same time, including its effect on your Will.