Separation occurs when there is an end to the marriage or a defacto relationship that can include a registered relationship. This can occur under one roof or two people living separately at different locations.
The main requirements for divorce in Australia is
- the marriage must have irretrievably broken down;
- there’s no chance of reconciliation; and
- they have been separated for at least 12 months before making the divorce application.
FAMILY LAW ACT 1975 – SECT 49 – sets out the Legal requirements for the marriage separation
Meaning of separation
The parties to a marriage may be held to have separated and to have lived separately and apart notwithstanding that they have continued to reside in the same residence or that either party has rendered some household services to the other.
The parties to a marriage may be held to have separated notwithstanding that the cohabitation was brought to an end by the action or conduct of one only of the parties.
Full Court in Pavey [1976] FamCA 36 at [7]-[23]: explained separation as, “means more than physical separation – it involves the breakdown of the marital relationship (the consortium vitae). Separation can only occur in the sense used by the Act where one or both of the spouses form the intention to sever or not to resume the marital relationship and act on that intention, or alternatively act as if the marital relationship has been severed. What comprises the marital relationship for each couple will vary. Marriage involves many elements some or all of which may be present in a particular marriage – elements such as dwelling under the same roof, sexual intercourse, mutual society and protection, recognition of the existence of the marriage by both spouses in public and private relationships, and the nurture and support of the children of the marriage.”
Do you require advice about Divorce and Separation from a FAMILY & DIVORCE LAWYER, in PERTH, please contact SAHARAN FAMILY & CRIMINAL LAWYERS to seek advice from a FAMILY LAWYER, PERTH.