Divorce without lawyers. It is entirely possible to prepare and file your own divorce application in Australia. How much does it cost for a divorce depends on whether or not you are self-representing or using the help of a lawyer to get this done.
Divorce without lawyers: How the e-court portal filing works
Divorce without lawyers means filing your own application. You can do this via the electronic system used by all the courts across Australia. It is called the e-court portal.
The first step to filing for divorce without lawyers is to sign up for an account on the e-court portal. Once you have an account, you will be able to complete the divorce application via the e-court portal questionnaire. Look out for the “divorce” heading on the portal to commence your application.
Divorce without lawyers: step-by-step checklist
Even though we are in an electronic age and the courts have implemented online filing, the divorce application will still need to be signed by you using a “wet signature”. You therefore need to:
- Sign up for an account on the e-court portal.
- Click on the divorce tab and fill in the divorce application via the questionnaire that is on the e-court portal.
- Download a copy of your completed divorce application.
- Print out your application, sign it and then upload the page that contains your signature back onto the portal.
- Upload additional supporting documents to the portal (e.g. a copy of your marriage certificate).
- Pay the online lodgement fee.
- Select a hearing date for your divorce application.
Once you have submitted your divorce application online and have selected a hearing date, that is not the end of the process.
Divorce without lawyers: Service on your ex
There is an extra step required before your divorce hearing which is referred to as “service”.
If you filed a joint divorce application, then service is not required. If you file a sole divorce application, then service on your ex is required before the hearing.
How do I effect service of my divorce application on my estranged spouse?
You need to sort out service on your estranged spouse:
- By personal service (i.e. by hand meaning that postal service and email is not enough).
- No later than 28 days before the divorce hearing.
There are people whose job it is to effect service for court. They are called process servers. How much does it cost for a divorce will typically include the fees charged by a process server to hand-deliver your divorce application to your estranged spouse.
How much does it cost for a divorce: typical fees and what you’ll pay
Divorce without lawyers is not free and will still include the following fees:
- Divorce application filing fee, this fee is payable to the court at the time you
lodge your online divorce application on the e-court portal. - Process server fees, typically about $200 if service is performed within 20 km of
your location. Fees will be higher if:- The location of your ex is far away and the process server needs to travel further to locate them.
- The process server has to make more than three attempts to effect service. If your ex is co-operative with service, the process server should not require more than three attempts. If your ex is difficult or tries to avoid service, more attempts may be needed.
Divorce without lawyers also means that you need to put in more effort to get it done right. It is not the job of the process server to perform a search and find of your estranged spouse. Process servers are not private investigators. Information that you need to provide to the process server to make their job smoother (and your keep your fees low) are:
- Address of your ex
- Phone number of your ex
- Place of employment of your ex
- Current photograph of your ex
Why do I need to give the process server the above details?
It is to help the process server locate and identify your estranged spouse. The process server needs to hand to your estranged spouse your divorce application. The process server cannot be you. It has to be an independent adult over the age of 18 years. The process server often has no relation to your spouse and identification is done by a combination of:
- The process server asking your ex to confirm his or her name (i.e. verbal confirmation); and/or
- The process server using a photograph of your ex to identify him or her (i.e. visual confirmation).
Divorce without Lawyers: After Service
Once the process server has personally served your ex with your divorce application, it is your responsibility to let the court know. You can do this by filing the following documents which are all available from the Family Court’s website:
- Affidavit of proof of service; and
- Affidavit of proof of identity.
If you ex signs an “acknowledgement of service” then you should submit this form as well on the e-court portal.
The Affidavit of Proof of Service is completed by the process server.
The Affidavit of Proof of Identity is completed by you.
Both affidavits require a wet signature and you will need to print the forms out once they have been filled in, sign them, scan them and upload the signed forms back onto the e-court portal.
Divorce without lawyers is relatively straight forward however there are multiple steps that need to be completed irrespective of whether or not you engage the help of a lawyer.
If a lawyer prepares your divorce application, the following steps are still the same:
- Complete divorce application online, make payment and upload supporting documents;
- Effect service via a process server;
- Submit affidavits to inform the court that step 2 is complete;
- Divorce hearing.
Great job if you have completed your divorce without lawyers!
The steps outlined above are relevant for a straight forward divorce application. Some situations will require additional steps such as:
- If your marriage certificate is in a language other than English;
- If you or your ex are overseas;
- If your ex cannot be located or personal service is not possible.
How much does it cost for a divorce? The answer really depends on how straight forward your situation is. If your divorce application is straight forward and you prepare and file your divorce without lawyers, then your fees will be limited to a court filing fee and process server fees.
If you use a lawyer to prepare your divorce application and it is straight forward, a lawyer in Australia will typically charge between $2,000 and $3,000 which fees do not generally include the filing fee or the process server fees.
If your divorce is not straight forward, your fees will be higher and you should consult a lawyer to assist you.
When divorce without lawyers is (and isn’t) appropriate
Using a lawyer to prepare your divorce application reduces the risk of your application being prepared incorrectly and reduces the risk of any delays in the process.
At Legal Aspirations, we help to empower Australians to do it yourself and to prepare do it yourself consent orders.
The divorce application is generally less complex than financial applications in the Family Court. At Legal Aspirations, our blogs are designed to educate the public and information share so that we can help to reduce the cost of divorce without lawyers.
A divorce order is often just one part of a separation. After separation, the division of property and the care of children may need to be addressed as well.
If you and your ex have reached agreement about who gets what in relation to property settlement, Legal Aspirations offers a range of templates to assist you to do it yourself and prepare your own consent order application using our various templates for consent orders and example consent orders. You can find our example content order templates in our Cart.
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