Factors Considered by the Court When Splitting Assets in a Divorce Case.
Have you recently separated from your partner and wondering what the Court will consider when determining your property split? Although many people assume that the reasons behind the relationship breakdown will be considered, read this post to understand how this is not the case and how the Court will look at each parties’ initial, financial and non-financial contributions and post-separation contributions, windfalls and future needs when making this decision.

Does the Court take the reason behind the relationship breakdown into consideration for property splits?

When determining property settlement the Court considers a number of factors. Australia is a no fault system and so the Court is not concerned with why a relationship broke down, only what each party contributed.

What contributions do they consider?

The factors to be considered are:
  • Initial contributions so what the parties each owned at the beginning of the relationship. This is particularly relevant in a shorter relationship and the relevance will reduce for longer relationships.
  • Financial contributions which includes what each party earned and how they applied that income to the relationship.
  • Non-financial contributions which includes things such as cooking, cleaning, care of the children, care of the house and garden, renovations and works to the home and gardens.

Do financial and non-financial contributions have equal weighting of consideration by the Court?

It is important to note that financial and non-financial contributions are treated as the same and so the fact one party worked and the other did not and stayed home to raise the children does not mean that one party gets more than the other.

Does the Court consider post-separation contributions?

Post separation contributions such as where there is a house who has lived in it, who has paid the mortgage and expenses, who has been paying liabilities.

Does the Court consider windfalls?

Whether there have been any "windfalls" such as inheritances, gifts or loans from friends and family members, any compensation or redundancy payments during the relationship and importantly how those funds were used e.g. did the recipient spend / waste them or did they pay down and reduce a mortgage.

Does the Court consider anything else?

Finally, the Court will look at future needs and relevant considerations here would be whether one party earns more than the other, whether a party is unable to work full time due to medical condition(s), where the children live and how much time they spend with each parent.

How does the Court decide upon the property split in consideration of all these factors?

The property settlement process will start off at 50/50 and then if a party should get an adjustment for one of the factors above it would increase their percentage and decrease the others until all factors are considered and a final percentage is reached. It is then considered that the property settlement is just and equitable or fair based on the contributions.

If you have questions regarding your own settlement or want to know how much the Court will likely consider your own contributions, please contact us to talk to an experienced Solicitor.
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