How to apply for consent orders, step by step

The steps at a glance

1. Check that consent orders suit you, and that you are within the time limit.
2. Work out which court you apply to.
3. Exchange full financial information with your former partner.
4. Collect the supporting documents.
5. If super is being split, write to the super fund at least 28 days before you file.
6. Write the proposed orders.
7. Complete the Application for Consent Orders together.
8. Both sign, in the way your court requires.
9. File within 90 days and pay the fee.
10. Respond if the registrar asks for more information.
11. Receive the sealed orders and carry them out.

Step 1: check that consent orders suit you

Consent orders turn an agreement you have already reached into court orders. Once made, they have the same effect as orders made by a judge after a hearing. You can apply at any time after you separate. You do not need to be divorced first.

An application for consent orders suits you if:

• you have separated, and you were married or in a de facto relationship
• you both agree on how your property, superannuation and debts will be divided
• you are both willing to sign the documents and to give the court full information about your finances

If you have not yet agreed, the application cannot start. You will need to negotiate first, often with the help of a mediator. See Mediation and negotiation.

Agreeing is not the whole test. The court can only make property orders if it is satisfied that, in all the circumstances, they are just and equitable (Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 79(2) for married couples, s 90SM(2) for de facto couples, and Family Court Act 1997 (WA) s 205ZG(3) for de facto couples in WA). An agreement that looks very one-sided needs an explanation in the application, or the court may ask questions or decline to make the orders.

An Application for Consent Orders cannot deal with child support, which is handled by Services Australia. It also cannot be used for a declaration that a de facto relationship existed.

Time limits

• Married couples should apply within 12 months after the divorce order takes effect (Family Law Act s 44(3)).
• De facto couples should apply within 2 years after the relationship ended (Family Law Act s 44(5); in WA, Family Court Act s 205ZB(1)).

If that time has passed, the law lets the application go ahead out of time if you both consent to it, or if the court gives leave. The Federal Circuit and Family Court asks you to do two things in a late application: tick that you both consent to it proceeding out of time (question 10A of the form), and include an order for leave to apply out of time as the first of your proposed orders. If you do not do both, the court may dismiss the application. In the Family Court of WA, the court's page asks only that you both consent. Even with consent, the court can dismiss a late application if the consent was obtained by fraud, duress or unconscionable conduct (Family Law Act s 44(3AA) and (5A); Family Court Act s 205ZB(1A)).

Do not leave it late if you can avoid it. See Time limits for property claims.

Step 2: work out which court you apply to

Western Australia has its own family court. Everyone else applies to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

If one of you lives in WA and the other lives in another state, get advice about which court to apply to.

The difference for WA de facto couples exists because Western Australia did not hand its de facto property powers to the Commonwealth, as the other states did. So the property orders come from a WA Act, while a superannuation split is made under s 90YY of the Family Law Act. See Consent orders in WA for the WA detail.

Extra conditions for WA de facto couples

For the Family Court of WA to make de facto property orders:

• the relationship must have lasted at least 2 years, or there must be a child of the relationship under 18, or the partner applying must have made substantial contributions, and in either of those last two cases failing to make the order would result in serious injustice (s 205Z)
• at least one of you must have lived in WA on the day the application is made, and either you both lived in WA for at least a third of the relationship or the partner applying made substantial contributions in WA (s 205X)

De facto couples outside WA face similar tests under the Family Law Act: a 2-year relationship, a child of the relationship, substantial contributions with serious injustice, or a registered relationship (s 90SB), and a connection with a participating state or territory (s 90SK). If you are unsure whether these apply to you, get advice before you prepare anything. See De facto relationships.

Step 3: exchange full financial information

Both of you have a duty to make full and frank disclosure of your financial circumstances. The application form asks for each person's assets, debts, superannuation and income in separate columns, so you need your former partner's figures as well as your own.

Gather, for each of you:

• real estate, with an estimate of its value and the amount owing on any mortgage
• bank accounts, shares, cryptocurrency and other investments
• vehicles and valuable personal items
• superannuation, with a current value for each account
• any business, company or trust either of you has an interest in
• debts, such as credit cards, personal loans and tax owing
• income
• anything either of you has bought, sold or given away since you separated

The court warns that failing to disclose can lead to the orders being set aside, a costs order, a fine or a finding of contempt. See Financial disclosure.

Step 4: collect the supporting documents

Which documents you need depends on your situation. The courts list:

• a copy of any existing court orders about your property or finances, and sealed copies if the orders you want would change orders made in another court or registry
• a copy of any binding financial agreement between you
• proof of the value of any superannuation being split, such as a recent member statement (the WA court asks for the last two member statements, or a completed Superannuation Information Form)
• in WA: copies of the certificate of title for any real estate being transferred, a copy of your marriage certificate and divorce order if you were married, and, for de facto couples, an affidavit giving evidence of the de facto relationship
• in the Federal Circuit and Family Court: a certificate of registration if your de facto relationship was registered under a state or territory law

To find out the value of your former partner's super, either of you can ask their fund for it using the form in the court's Superannuation Information Kit (in WA, Form 6).

Step 5: if super is being split, write to the fund first

A superannuation split is made under s 90XT of the Family Law Act for married couples, or s 90YY for de facto couples in WA. If the orders will bind the trustee of a super fund, the court must be satisfied the trustee was given a fair chance to comment. This is called procedural fairness.

In practice, at least 28 days before you file, you send the trustee written notice of:

• the exact terms of the orders you will ask the court to make that bind the trustee
• that the trustee may object by giving written notice within 28 days of receiving yours

If the fund asks for changes, amend the orders and send them back. When the fund confirms it does not object, file its letter with the application. If the fund has not replied after 28 days, the WA court says you may file with a copy of what you sent and a note that no response was received. The Federal Circuit and Family Court says you must file proof of the fund's correspondence and the current value, or it cannot make the orders.

In the Federal Circuit and Family Court, the proposed orders must also say that each of you and the trustee have liberty to apply to the court about putting the super orders into effect. The application has to state the gross value of the super each of you will receive and the tax consequences of the split.

Starting the fund notice early means the 28 days run while you finish the rest of the paperwork. See Super splits explained.

Step 6: write the proposed orders

The orders are a separate document from the application. They are the exact words you want the court to make into orders: who keeps which property, who pays whom and by when, who takes over which debt, and how any super is split.

• Set out each order in its own numbered paragraph.
• Both courts publish a template or examples: the Federal Circuit and Family Court's proposed orders template, and the Family Court of WA's example property orders and its page on formatting consent orders.
• In WA, the draft orders go in a Minute of Consent Orders.
• In the Federal Circuit and Family Court, you also upload an identical, unsigned Word (.docx) copy of the orders. It cannot be locked for editing or contain tracked changes, images or macros.

Wording matters. Orders that are unclear, or that leave out a step such as who refinances the mortgage and by when, are hard to carry out later. If a property is being transferred, a buyout or refinance needs a date and a fallback if it does not happen. See Property transfer after settlement.

Step 7: complete the Application for Consent Orders

You complete the application together. The person who files it and pays the fee is the applicant, and the other person is the respondent. Both of you give your details, the dates you began living together, married (if you did), separated and divorced (if you have), and any other court cases or orders.

The financial part asks for each person's figures in its own column. The court's own checklist singles out these as the questions people most often get wrong:

• each person's total net worth, not counting superannuation
• details of any property bought or disposed of since separation
• for super, the details of each interest and current proof of its value
• a summary of the net value of the property each of you will receive under the orders, and for super the gross value and the tax consequences
• for de facto couples, the questions that show you are entitled to apply and meet the geographical requirements

The Federal Circuit and Family Court's form and kit are on its Application for consent orders kit page. The Family Court of WA's version is Form 11, on its Applying for consent orders page. Use your own court's form.

Step 8: sign the documents

Both of you sign, but the two courts ask for different things.

You can sign on different days. The 90-day clock starts with whoever signs first, so arrange both signatures close together. If the documents are filed more than 90 days after the first sworn signature, the court may not make the orders.

If a lawyer has given one of you independent legal advice about the orders, the lawyer completes the statement of independent legal advice in the application. This is not compulsory, but both courts say you should get legal advice about the effect of the orders before you sign.

Step 9: file the application and pay the fee

The filing fee for an Application for Consent Orders is $215 from 1 July 2026, in both courts. It is paid when you file and has no GST. Court fees change on 1 July each year.

Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia

• File online through the Commonwealth Courts Portal, using Start a new file. Each of you should have your own Portal registration.
• Upload the application, the signed orders, the unsigned .docx copy of the orders and any supporting documents, including the super fund correspondence and proof of value if super is being split.
• Pay the fee by card when you file. If you cannot file online, the court accepts filing by email to a registry, or by post or in person.
• If you hold certain concession cards, or the fee would cause financial hardship, you can apply for an exemption when you file.

Family Court of Western Australia

• Register as an individual on the eCourts Portal, then start a new application under Assisted Lodgement and choose the Family Court of WA.
• Lodge Form 11, the Minute of Consent Orders and the supporting documents. The court sends its orders and notices through the portal, and the email address you use there must be the one you give the court for service.
• The court's fees page has the current fee. Filing fees are paid before the application is filed and are not refundable.

Step 10: the registrar reviews it

A registrar reads the application and the orders. You do not attend court unless the registrar asks you to. The registrar will do one of three things:

• make the orders
• ask you for more information or amended documents, usually called a requisition
• decline to make the orders, in which case you will be told and should get legal advice

The vast majority of consent orders are approved. A minority receive a request for further information. A requisition is not a refusal. You answer the questions or fix the documents, and the registrar looks at it again. If Lawcaptain prepared your application on the Essentials package, we answer a requisition for an affordable fixed-fee upgrade. On Full Service it is included.

Common reasons a registrar asks for more information

• A box in the Statement of Truth or the financial questions was not marked, or a question was left blank.
• The net value each person receives was not set out, or does not add up.
• A superannuation value was missing or out of date, or the fund's response was not filed.
• Property sold or spent since separation was not explained.
• The split looks uneven and the application does not explain why it is still fair, for example because of contributions or a payment already made.
• The orders do not deal with everything, such as a mortgage left in both names with no plan to remove one of you from it.
• In the Federal Circuit and Family Court, a late application did not include both the consent and the order for leave.

Step 11: after the orders are made

Sealed orders are made available to download from the court's portal: the Commonwealth Courts Portal, or the eCourts Portal in WA. Then the orders have to be carried out.

• Super. If the orders split super, the person who applied must serve the fund's trustee with written notice of the orders, usually by sending a sealed copy. The fund then makes the split.
• Property. A conveyancer, or in WA a settlement agent, transfers the title. Property transferred under court orders can attract only nominal stamp duty, and capital gains tax rollover relief can apply. The rules differ by state, so check with your conveyancer or accountant.
• Debts and refinancing. Do what the orders say by the dates they set, such as refinancing a mortgage into one name.

Keep a copy of the orders and the application. If someone does not do what the orders require, they can be enforced like any other court order.

Doing it yourself or using a lawyer

You are not required to use a lawyer. If you do it yourselves, the only court fee is the $215 filing fee. The courts publish the forms, a kit and a template for the orders. The online service amica is another do-it-yourself option for couples who agree.

Doing it yourself works best when:

• your assets are simple, for example one home, some savings and two super accounts
• you both understand and accept the split, and can share information easily
• you are comfortable writing orders that the court and a super fund will accept, and answering any requisition yourselves

A lawyer is worth considering when:

• a super split, a business, a trust or more than one property is involved
• the split is not close to even and needs explaining
• you are out of time, or you are a de facto couple in WA
• you are not sure the agreement is fair to you
• an application you filed yourselves has come back with a requisition

Common questions

Do we have to go to court?

No, not in the usual case. A registrar decides the application on the documents. You attend only if the registrar asks you to.

Can one of us apply without the other?

Not for consent orders. Both of you complete and sign the application and the orders. If your former partner will not sign, consent orders are not available, and the options are negotiation, mediation or a contested application.

Do we need to be divorced first?

No. You can apply for consent orders at any time after you separate. If you are married, the 12-month time limit starts when the divorce order takes effect. See Divorce vs property settlement.

What is the difference between the application and the orders?

The application gives the court the information it needs to decide whether the orders are just and equitable: your details, your finances and what each of you will end up with. The orders are the words the court will actually make, and they are what banks, super funds and the land titles office act on.

How much does it cost to apply for consent orders?

The court's filing fee is $215 from 1 July 2026, in both courts. If you use a lawyer, add the lawyer's fee. See How much do consent orders cost?

How long does it take?

Preparing the documents takes as long as it takes to agree, gather the information and sign. Allow at least 28 days for the super fund if super is being split. Once lodged, orders are typically made in about two and a half weeks, though it can extend to about four weeks depending on how busy the court is at that time of year, and longer if the registrar asks for more information.

Can consent orders include parenting arrangements?

Yes. Both courts accept parenting orders by consent, and the Federal Circuit and Family Court lets you seek parenting and property orders in the same application. Parenting orders have extra requirements: in the Federal Circuit and Family Court, for example, a Notice of child abuse, family violence or risk must be filed with the application. Lawcaptain does not offer parenting consent orders. This guide covers property and financial orders only.

What if the registrar refuses to make the orders?

You will be told. Get legal advice about why. Often the agreement can be explained better or changed, and a fresh application filed. It may be necessary for the application to be heard in court.