What are Consent Orders?
You have separated and already reached an agreement. Consent Orders are court orders that make your agreement legally binding.
Consent Orders can deal with parenting of children and the division of property and superannuation. You apply to the Court by making an Application for Consent Orders.
There are two parts: the Application for Consent Orders and the Minutes of Consent Orders.
The Application for Consent Orders sets out the agreed information about your agreement, including:
The details of you and your former partner: your relationship, contact details, age and income and any health issues.
The details of any children: their age, the care arrangements and any health issues.
A list of all assets and liabilities, owned individually or jointly, and their agreed values or balances. There is no requirement to obtain valuation reports because the values are agreed between you and your former partner, and you will sign the document to confirm they are true and correct.
A list of which assets and liabilities you and your former partner will each keep as part of your agreed property settlement, including superannuation entitlements.
The overall percentage division of the total net assets including superannuation for your agreed property settlement. Don't forget to include any payment which forms part of your property settlement, both as an asset and as a liability to be paid.
A summary of the financial and non-financial contributions made by you and by your former partner.
A summary of the current and future circumstances of you and your former partner, such as your age, health, income earning capacity, the care arrangements for any children and access to any financial resources.
The Minutes of Consent Orders set out the details of your agreement including:
Correctly worded Orders for the transfer of assets, the discharge of liabilities and the assets and liabilities that you will each keep as part of your property settlement agreement.
Each Order should be worded correctly to make sure it imposes an obligation on the parties to do all necessary things and sign all necessary documents.
Fundamentally, the Minutes of Consent Orders should bring about an end to the financial relationship, which means separating all jointly owned assets and liabilities and severing all financial ties with your former partner.
If your application seeks orders for the care arrangements for your children, then you must set out in detail the agreed parenting arrangements for your children. In most cases, the Court cannot make orders for the financial support of children.
There may be further supporting documents to lodge with the Court, for example:
If your property settlement agreement including a superannuation split, then:
The letter you sent to the Super Fund to notify them of the proposed superannuation splitting orders;
The letter in response from the Super Fund to confirm there is no objection to the superannuation split; and
A statement or screenshot of the current balance of the Super Fund from which the superannuation entitlements are being split, or if it is a Defined Benefit Super Fund, then an independent valuation report.
If there are any existing court orders, for example an intervention order.
If you registered you de facto relationship, then a copy of the registration certificate.
