If you have been married and separated from your partner you might wonder when you can apply for divorce.

The general rule is either party to a marriage can apply for divorce one year and one day after their separation.  This means, if you separated on 1 January 2017 you can file for divorce on 2 January 2018.

If you and your spouse are physically separate, that is one person moved out of the home, the separation date it is relatively easy to work out. If you continued to live together after the separation it becomes trickier, and you may need to obtain advice about whether you were considered ‘separated’ for the purpose of the Family Law Act.

You cannot get divorced if the Court believes you and your former spouse may cohabit again.

It is important to remember getting a divorce may affect you property matters. You can read more by heading to our blog post How does divorce affect my property matters?

If you are unsure whether you can apply for a divorce, you can contact make an appointment with our family lawyer by calling our office on (02) 6882 2611 or via our website.