Application for Consent Orders Form – Complete Guide

What is the Application for Consent Orders Form?

The Application for Consent Orders is the form that tells the court what both parties’ respective financial position is and provides an overview of the financial agreement that has been reached in relation to property settlement entitlements.

This form is also used to obtain consent orders for parenting matters however the focus of this website is to assist parties with completing the form for financial matters.

There are two Family Court websites. One for the Family Court of Western Australia and one for the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

The Application for Consent Orders is available for download on both websites.

Application for Consent Orders Form – Scenario

When completing the application, you need to fill in ALL sections about your financial situation and not simply insert only those assets or liabilities that are being divided and/or transferred between the parties.

The following scenario is provided as an illustration only:

John and Mary have agreed to a 50/50 split of their combined net assets. They jointly own one house worth $500,000 with a joint mortgage of $60,000. Mary also has an investment property worth $300,000 in her sole name and a mortgage secured against the investment property in her sole name to the value of $250,000. John has his own savings account with $20,000 in it. Mary has her own savings account with $14,000 in it. John’s superannuation is $60,000 and Mary’s superannuation is $280,000. They each have their own cars valued at $15,000 each. John’s credit card debt is $3,000. Mary has no other liabilities.

Let’s take a look at what this looks like:

Let’s move on.

John and Mary have agreed that John will retain the jointly owned house, refinance the joint mortgage into his sole name and the parties will otherwise keep all other assets and liabilities in their respective names. To achieve a 50/50 division, John will need to pay to Mary the sum of $86,500. This is called the “Payout”. Let’s see what they are each retaining:

Combined total net pool = $891,000.

To achieve a 50/50 split, both parties need to retain half of the total combined net pool = $445,500.

The Payout from John to Mary to achieve a 50/50 split = $86,500. Let’s take a look at the calculations:

When completing the Application for Consent Orders, you should disclose all of the assets and liabilities in your name, your estranged spouse’s name and joint names. The Family Court needs this information to assess whether or not the agreement reached is fair.

Application for Consent Orders Form – The Right Way

The RIGHT WAY to complete the Application for Consent Orders is to:

• itemise ALL assets and liabilities held by the parties in their joint and individual names including:
• assets and/or liabilities that the parties are transferring and/or passing between them; and
• assets and/or liabilities that the parties are retaining themselves and not otherwise subject to any exchange.

Application for Consent Orders Form – The Wrong Way

The WRONG WAY to complete the Application for Consent Orders is to:

• include only the joint home, joint mortgage and payout to Mary of $86,500 as those are the only assets being transferred, refinanced and/or passing between the parties; and
• leave the rest of the form blank/silent where the form requests details of savings, motor vehicles, superannuation etc. (i.e. make no mention of any other asset held in the parties’ names).

An 80/20 division is not reflective of John and Mary’s property settlement. Their agreement is 50/50 but if all other assets and liabilities held in John’s name and Mary’s name are not listed, the Family Court might not realize that the overall agreement is fair.

The Family Court needs to know what the overall division is between the parties.

For those of you within Western Australia, you will find the question about the proposed percentage division at item 55 of the consent order application.

For all other States and Territories, you will find the question about the proposed percentage division at item 68 of the consent order application.

A Guide to Completing the Application for Consent Orders Form

Before you begin reading this guide and to help you follow it, you should review the Application for Consent Orders form.

The forms are available for download from the Family Court website or you can view the forms here:

Application for Consent Orders Form – Detailed Part by Part Guide

Part B is about jurisdiction. The Family Court is for families. If you are married, you will need to include a copy of your marriage certificate when you file your application at the court. If you were in a de facto relationship, you may need to file an Affidavit of Jurisdiction. A sample of this affidavit can be purchased from the Cart.

Part C is about other court cases and orders and should be straight forward to complete. If you have not had any previous involvement with courts before, most answers to Part C is ‘No’.

Parts D and F are about children which this website does not address. Sample parenting orders can be found on Legal Aid and Family Relationships websites which are useful. This website is dedicated to assisting people with the property side of family law.

Part E refers to “Consent Orders”. The consent orders is the title of the document that will eventually become your court order so it’s very important that you get it right.Lodging the Application for Consent Orders on its own at the Family Court is not a complete application. The application needs to be accompanied with the draft consent orders (i.e. Minute of Consent Orders). Sample templates of the Minute are available for purchase from the Cart. Alternatively, you can have a personalised Minute prepared for and catered to your individual circumstances by completing the questionnaire. Click Get Started to give this a go.

For those within Western Australia, you will need to file an Affidavit of Jurisdiction if your relationship was a de facto relationship.

For those outside of Western Australia, the Application for Consent Orders asks questions relating to the breakdown of a de facto relationship within the form itself at Part G.

Part G (for those within Western Australia) / Part H (for all other States and Territories)

This Part of the document sets out your and your estranged spouse’s personal financial situation. An agreement about what final consent orders should be made does not mean that you and your spouse must agree on every item contained in the consent order application. This is why you each have separate columns within the application, one column for the applicant and one column for the respondent. You are the applicant. Your estranged spouse is the respondent.

When completing your respective columns, this form should be filled out according to what assets are legally held in the parties’ respective names.

For example, under the subheading “PROPERTY”, the form asks for the parties to list real estate. If John and Mary have one jointly held property worth $500,000 and they have agreed that John will retain the property as part of their final settlement, you should still list the property in both columns and where the form asks for the percentage share, the answer is 50% each. The value in the form should be completed as $250,000 in John’s column and $250,000 in Mary’s column. Don’t include the mortgage just yet. The form starts with listing assets and then moves on to listing liabilities later.

When completing the form for assets, you should apply the same approach for liabilities.

For example, if John has a credit card debt that Mary will take over, the credit card debt should still be listed in John’s column because it is in his name. If Mary is taking over the credit card debt, this will be shown later in the application under the heading “EFFECT OF PROPERTY/FINANCIAL ORDERS SOUGHT” and will also be included in the Minute of Consent Orders.

After you have completed listing your property and liabilities, the form moves on to your superannuation. Many people will have an accumulation interest which is not subject to a splitting order. If your superannuation is subject to a splitting order, you should seek legal advice.

After detailing your superannuation, the form requires you to identify any “FINANCIAL RESOURCES” that are not otherwise “assets” available for distribution between you and your spouse. An example could be a family trust that you do not control. Other examples are provided on the form.

Item 55 (on the WA form) and Item 68 (for all other States and Territories) is the item which you may wish to complete last. It is the item that tells the court what the overall percentage division of net assets is between you and your estranged spouse. In the earlier example of John and Mary, the answer to this question is 50% to Applicant and 50% to Respondent.

For Item 56 (on the WA form) and Item 69 (for all other States and Territories), financial contributions relate to monetary contributions to the acquisition, conservation or improvement of assets held by the parties or either of them. Things to consider when answering this question include, but are not limited to,

• • Who owned more assets when the parties first commenced cohabitation or got married?
  • Who earned more money during the relationship?
  • Did either party receive any windfalls or inheritances during the relationship or after the relationship ended?

For Item 57 (on the WA form) and Item 70 (for all other States and Territories), non-financial contributions could include things such as using one’s personal exertion to perform renovations to property or managing the accounts of a business. There are many more examples of non-financial contributions.

For Item 58 (on the WA form) and Item 71 (for all other States and Territories), contributions as homemaker and parent include things such as who was the primary care giver of children during the relationship and who performed the domestic duties such as cooking, cleaning and gardening.

For Item 59 (on the WA form) and Item 72 (for all other States and Territories), other matters include any disparity in the parties’ health and income earning capacities. By way of illustration only, an answer to this item could be:

“The Husband earns in excess of $150,000 gross per annum whilst the Wife earns only $40,000 gross per annum, as she is working part-time and unable to work full-time due to her ongoing role as the primary care giver of the parties’ two young children.”

The above is an example only and you should edit your response to reflect your individual circumstances.

Part H of the application (on the WA form) and Part I (for all other States and Territories) is a summary of what the parties’ property settlement will look like. This is the part of the form which sets out who is actually keeping what asset and liability at the end of the day.

For example, if John and Mary have real estate in joint names but John is retaining the real estate, then the full value of the real estate is placed in John’s side of the column. You will recall that previously, only half of the real estate was placed in John’s column and the other half in Mary’s column. The effect of property/financial orders sought is about summarising to the Family Court who gets what and this is where the full value of the joint home is inserted in John’s column.

In our example of John and Mary, John is giving to Mary a Payout of $86,500. This is recorded as follows:

TIP: Remember to use “Nil” or “0” to fill in all items of your form when there are no assets or liabilities to record. If you leave any items blank the Family Court may consider the form incomplete because an answer to every question is required.

You have now reached the end of the application. You’re almost there!

NOTE:

a)      A notary public is different from an ordinary member of the public. Public notaries are usually lawyers.

b)      Affidavits are not the same as Statutory Declarations. There are many professionals that can witness a Statutory Declaration including but not limited to teachers, accountants, police officers and pharmacists. These professionals are not authorised to witness Affidavits. If you execute the application wrongly, the court may reject your application for filing or send you a requisition for more information.

TIP: It is not strictly necessary to complete the Statements of Independent Legal Advice at the end of the application.

Need an example? Here is what the completed form might look like for John and Mary: