Have you recently separated? Are you considering financial settlement after separation? Or divorce settlement help? What are your first steps after separation?
The following summarises some basic steps for financial separation after break-up.

What is property settlement?
Property settlement in family law is about creating a financial severance between you and your ex. One of the main objectives of family law property settlement is a financial severance. This means that you and your ex sever all jointly held assets and all jointly held liabilities so that you can each move on with your lives financially free from one another. This concept of a financial severance is commonly referred to as the “clean break principle”.
How can Legal Aspirations help you?
If you have recently separated, you may be wanting to know how to divide finances after separation. If you and your ex have a financial separation agreement, you can formalise the agreement through the Family Court using “consent orders”.
Our website helps you with preparing do it yourself consent orders for family law property settlement.
It is important that and we highly encourage you to obtain legal advice from a lawyer specialising in family law about splitting assets after divorce or splitting assets after separation.
Without first obtaining legal advice, you may not know what your entitlements to property settlement are and without knowing your rights, it will be difficult for you to know where to start in negotiations.
Financial settlement after separation. Where do I start?
Going through a separation is tough. We recommend first and foremost that you can take care of your mental health during this difficult period in your life. Help can come from a variety of sources such as friends, family, and mental health professionals.
You should also obtain legal advice to know what time limitations are applicable to you and what your rights are. With this knowledge, you can then try to negotiate a division of assets with your ex.
One of the first steps is knowing what assets and liabilities are available for division between you and your ex.
You should start by knowing what your ex’s financial situation is and being full and frank about your own financial situation. This is commonly referred to as the “duty of disclosure”.
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What is the Duty of Disclosure?
The duty of disclosure is an expectation that you and your ex will be full and frank with each other about what assets, liabilities, and financial resources you each have.
The combination of assets, liabilities and financial resources is relevant to determining what is called the “asset pool”.
A division of the “asset pool” is effectively what family law property settlement is about.
Making sure that you divide the asset pool in a way that is fair for you and your ex and creates a financial severance so that there is a “clean break” is what you should be aiming for in negotiations.
What if my ex will not disclose his or her assets and liabilities to me?
If your ex is not co-operating with providing full and frank disclosure to you, this might be a good time to seek the help of a specialist family lawyer. Family lawyers are familiar with the duty of disclosure and a competent family lawyer will guide his or her client through the disclosure process.
If your ex is being obstructive about providing relevant disclosure documents to you, it may even be worthwhile encouraging your ex to seek his or her own legal advice so that a specialist family lawyer can explain the duty of disclosure to your ex.
How do I finalise family law property settlement?
One option is to file an Application for Consent Orders at the Family Court. The term application for consent orders and consent order application are interchangeable. Whether you are looking for,

Our personalised do it yourself consent orders and example consent orders which you can purchase from our website are designed for use across Australia.
Our sample consent orders have been prepared by Australian lawyers specialising in family law.
If you have any queries, please email us at support@legalaspirations.com.au because we’re here to help.